Disabled woman waiting a year for wet room told to get husband to 'stripwash' her in meantime

Stephen Foster, 68, claimed Hull City Council offered the advice after attempts to get his wife Maureen, 75, into the shower resulted in falls, leaving them both bruised. Mr Foster said he had asked for a wet room in the council house a year ago, but claims that he was told there was a two-year waiting list.

He said the saga had left his wife – who can barely stand and uses a wheelchair – angry, confused and upset. The council has now said the couple are eligible to be fast-tracked for the work, which has now been authorised.

Mr and Mrs Foster moved into their home in the Wawne Road area of Bransholme about 12 years ago. At the time, the council house had a dilapidated wet room, which they did not require, so it was converted into a standard bathroom.

“It was disgusting, it was filthy and rusty, and the council came and took it away and we got a bath and shower instead,” Mr Foster recalled. “I have epilepsy, but my wife was originally quite healthy when we moved in about 12 years ago.”

“But my wife’s 75 now and she’s really poorly, she can barely stand up and has to use a wheelchair and walking aids. About a year ago I asked the council if they would pull the bath out and turn the bathroom back into a wet room for her.

“She’s really bad now and she can’t wash herself. I have to take her in and out of the bathroom. I’ve tried to get hold of the occupational therapy department at the council, but it’s impossible. The people on the phone are always very sympathetic but they have to contact another department and then another.

“Eventually we got through to someone who told us they didn’t want me trying to climb over the bath with my wife because it’s too dangerous, so while we wait I should strip-wash her. I hold both her hands and walk with her to get undressed and then I take her to the bathroom and sit her on a stool while I wash her.

“She gets angry with me sometimes because she doesn’t like it, I don’t want to have to strip her down like that, but she doesn’t understand and thinks it’s me making her do it. It just doesn’t seem right to me, doesn’t my wife have any right to her dignity?

“While we’ve been waiting I’ve had my wife fall on me and we were both black and blue. We fell into the bath backwards and I smashed me arm and had a big mark on my leg afterwards.”

Mr Foster said he had been told there was a two-year wait for the work due to the after-effects of the Covid pandemic.

“I’m not saying we want pushing up the list or that we’re the ones in the worst situation in Hull, but how many really poorly, elderly and disabled people must be on this waiting list?” he asked.

“Before we were in this situation I never realised this was happening, it’s shocking. I don’t think it would be a big job because it was a wet room before, we only want the bath taking out. I’ve even offered to help pay for it from my savings. But they won’t have it and they’ve said it needs to be done by the council otherwise they wouldn’t recognise them.”

A council spokesperson said they were sorry to hear about the couple’s situation. Mr Foster’s application has been reassessed in light of a change in circumstances, they added, and the conversion works had now been authorised.

The spokesperson said: “We are deeply sorry to hear about Mrs Foster’s fall and the circumstances involved. To help us deal with issues like this more effectively, we recently put a new system for fast-tracking applicants in place.

“On Monday, November 13, we were able to reassess Mrs Foster’s application, this assessment showed a change in their circumstances and that Mrs Foster met the ‘fast track’ criteria. The work to install the wet room has been authorised.”