Disabled pensioner forced to wash from a bucket

A DISABLED Omagh woman says she has spent the past three weeks washing from a bucket of water due to a delay in having a new walk-in shower installed at her home.

Pensioner, Kathleen Friel (63), from Culmore Park, is still waiting on the Housing Executive (HE) to complete the work that had begun on April 25.

The HE has apologised for the delay, and hopes to have the new shower installed this week.

However, Mrs Friel says the situation has left her feeling ‘degraded and depressed’, and claims the HE has already failed to meet a deadline for the work on two occasions.

“They seem to be passing the buck to each other,” she told the UH.

“It’s degrading not to have proper shower facilities in your home – three weeks is too long to be waiting.

“There’s a very small hand basin which isn’t of any use, so I’m using a black bucket and a face cloth to wash myself.”

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Mrs Friel needs the shower installed because of her inability to climb into the bath that had been in the house.

She says the bathroom is like a building site due to the unfinished work.

“Every time I go into the bathroom all I see is a mess

“I thought this work would have been finished in a couple of days, but they’re no further forward and there’s no guarantee when the work will be finished.”

Mrs Friel has lived in her Culmore Park home since she got married 43 years ago, and has is urging the Housing Executive to sort the problem out “as quickly as possible.”

In a statement, a spokesperson for the HE confirmed that the bath was removed on April 26, but further work had been delayed when engineers discovered that the heating pipes were above floor level.

“Unfortunately, the shower could not be fitted until these pipes were relocated underneath the floor,” a spokesperson said.

“Our technicians carried out an inspection on April 28 and issued an order for the work which was completed within the target time.

“The tenant has been made aware of this process. She was contacted on Tuesday and informed that the installation would take place this week.”