Bexley care home residents missing out on showers because of failure to fix water supplies

By Joe Coughlan, Local Democracy Reporter

A Bexley grandmother has said she feels her brother with learning difficulties has been ‘neglected’ by the council, claiming he has not been able to have a shower in his home for ‘months’.

Beverley McDermott, 70, has lived in Bexley her whole life, having grown up as the younger sister to her brother Fred Longhurst, 71.

Ms McDermott said her brother was born with learning disabilities which have severely affected his ability to communicate verbally.

Mr Longhurst has stayed in an assisted living home in Barnehurst since October 2017 with two other individuals and full-time carers.

The grandmother said she visits her brother once a month and that earlier in the year, she noticed the water pressure of the taps in the property was particularly low.

Ms McDermott asked carers in the home about the issue and was told that the water pressure was so weak that her brother and other clients at the property were being strip-washed instead of receiving showers.

Ms McDermott said: “They told me about the water pressure and that they are not having showers. For us to go without a shower for a day or two, we just don’t like it. For them to be left for months just having strip-washes – we’re going back to the 1950s.”

She added: “They are filling a bowl of water, but doing it in small bowls and transferring it from the tap. They said to me that they have not had a shower for months.”

The sister said she suspects the issue may be due to a leak in the front driveway of the property which she first noticed in April this year.

Thames Water said that the company first attended the property in June following reports of low water pressure. They confirmed that the cause of the issue was the leak outside the front of the home, but claimed the defect was on the property’s private pipework and was an issue for the owner, Bexley council, to resolve.

The spokesman said that the authority was offered support to fix the repair in June but no response was received. They added that a repair would be carried out on September 26, with the council being charged for the works costs.

Ms McDermott said that aside from the issues regarding water pressure, the front and back gardens of the property have also become wildly overgrown in the past year with tall grass, weeds and stinging nettles.

The sister said: “They couldn’t come out here, and Fred used to love being in the garden. He is a fresh air person, he really  is. They used to have a gardener and he would cut the grass and that. It wasn’t brilliant, but it was maintained.”

Bexley council has been approached for comment.

Picture: Beverley McDermott with her brother Fred Longhurst (Picture: Facundo Arrizabalaga)