Sheltered housing warden retires..UPDATE...again

[poppett]

Our hero has had a face to face meeting with the head of housing and property services. She denied all knowledge of what has been going on and was not aware there was any problem! Today she will have had an email with all the complaints, questions about the future service to be provided and a request for a refund for services not supplied but paid for.

I am not convinced of her innocence as Dad sent her an email which was answered by someone else on her behalf and also another email in reply to a voicemail Dad had left for the same woman.

However if it gets things moving in the right direction, then all to the good. Onwards and upwards.

Will keep you posted.............eventually.

Take care
Meg

[poppett]

Latest update,

E-mails have been flying back and forth this week and seems Dad is to get his back door ramped in the next 2 - 3 weeks.

Temporary warden is now off sick, so back to square one.

Council man "forgot" to attach list of proposed warden duties (most convenient) but a meeting is imminent to thrash issues out and promises again of job being advertised but warning how long it could be before the post is filled.

Will keep you posted.

Take care
Meg

[poppett]

Yes, the saga continues.

Still no sign of the post being advertised.........more council lies.

Did manage to get a few lines to confirm what the warden`s duties will be. Once daily contact by phone/sighting/word of mouth someone has seen the resident that day/or visit. Previously the warden visited morning and evening so if only once a day contact the council`s boast "we haven`t increased the warden fees" is rubbish, as technically the fees have doubled........more council lies.

Also in the event of an alarmcall during the warden shift she will be contacting me to deal with the emergency.................what`s the point of that. Dad could have that service direct from the alarmcall company for a fiver a week, not the 90 he pays each month just now for a non existant service.

Take care
Meg

[poppett]

The Press and Journal newspaper ran an article yesterday which leads us to believe the battle has been won and warden cover will resume by the end of next Month. Somebody has had time to have a baby whilst this dragged on (almost nine months!)

Dad is adamant that the residents should be entitled to a refund for the times they have had no warden and one of the prospective councillors seems to agree, so will take that up after the elections. If nothing else the Highland Council have broken some consumer law by stating on their website they have not increased the warden fees, when in fact, there has been no proper warden service and the residents have still had to pay.

Thank you once again for all your support

Take care
Meg

[charles47]

If it's all true...fantastic! Well done!

[Myrtle]

Good result
Just hope it happens!

[poppett]

Here we are again, with the latest update.

Official complaint was ignored by housing and property services director who asked a housing officer to reply on her behalf. Without a reply to the complaint from the director of the whole council we can not involve the local authority ombudsman.............and they know it.

Chap who has written the letter (not to us, but to our MP who copied it to me) is meeting me tomorrow to "put me right about a few things"...............we shall see.

Will keep you posted.xx

[charles47]

Make sure you have someone with you as a witness, and have your evidence handy.

Knock 'em dead!

[Myrtle]

Here we are again, with the latest update.


Chap who has written the letter (not to us, but to our MP who copied it to me) is meeting me tomorrow to "put me right about a few things"...............we shall see.

Will keep you posted.xx

I think the boot might be on the other foot!
Good luck!

[poppett]

Meeting went reasonably well....no raised voices or slapping.

Still waiting to hear from councillor`s meeting before I agree to the proposition that Dad would resume his two warden visits a day 7 days a week. At the moment only the deputy warden still visits twice. That would settle his arguement about now only getting half the service he used to for the same amount of money, but hardly fair on the other 33 residents not having the same offer made to them, so still a work in progress.

They got round the refund by saying it wouldn`t make any difference what the top line was as dad`s contribution based on his ability to pay would remain the same. Why could they not have said that in the first place. Still not convinced so will chat again to finance department tomorrow now I know the exact question to ask.

On the issue of change without consultation the housing officer was able to produce two warden handbooks, one for the old warden the other for the new and every line was identical, so nothing has changed. Sadly the old warden had chosen to do all the things she shouldn`t have done and left them an ugly mess to clear up. I did suggest they should re-think the way the out of hours is worked and make sure there was an emergency plan in place for soiling accidents between homecare calls if the warden wasn`t going to deal with this anymore.

Thank you all for your help and support with this.xx

[bowlingbun]

Well done Dad. I give him permission to have an extra "wee dram" to celebrate, or even a few drams. I do like stories like this, it gives all of us fighting our own little battles the courage to continue.

[poppett]

Thank you for that Bowlingbun....however Dad is a recovering alcoholic and has been dry since November last year when he mixed drink with pills and a fall and almost died. Lucozade is as strong a drink as he takes now! If he goes on the hard stuff I will make sure you get the call out to attend him

The local councillors had a meeting with the chief executive of the council on Friday and so far I haven`t heard any feedback. Hope I will before the housing officer visits Dad on Tuesday afternoon.

Even the new warden thinks the service as it stands is abonimable and not what she thought she was going to be doing, and a twilight service would better suit the needs of the clients and wardens taking turns for OOH on call, just as before.

Feel like a line dancer sometimes......one step forward and two steps back!....so the song goes.xx