A resident in Coulsdon has an elderly relative living in Selsdon. She lives in a Council house and had a broken sink, making it unusable. It prevented her from using the washing machine. She is not able to carry washing up to the bathroom and is unable to use a launderette (partly due to Covid restrictions, but also due to being in a vulnerable category and requiring to shield).
The resident first raised the issue with the Council repairs line on 2nd January. She was informed that was not an emergency (despite having clarified her disability and current vulnerability) and that she should call back on Monday morning.
Having called again she was told that there were no possible appointments for January. On asking how she was expected to cope until then, the call operator said that they would investigate and advise that same day. The resident dutifully called them again at 4pm in order to ask for an update. She was told that the appointment had been booked in the system for February and that another council colleague would contact her. There was no subsequent contact.
How a resident clearly in the vulnerable category could be deemed as non-urgent is perplexing. I contact my colleagues in Selsdon to see if they could help their resident. Within 24 hours the situation was resolved and the repair was booked in short order.
Many residents don't know who 'their' councillors are, these can be looked up online here. Whilst I am a councillor in Coulsdon, and this particular resident lived in Selsdon, I was nevertheless able to help direct the query in the right direction for resolution. We're all working in the best interests of our residents, so please get in touch with any of us and we'll do the best we can to help.
Photo by Danilo Alvesd on Unsplash
