Elderly couple forced apart in own home

BEN CAMPBELL/Papakura Courier

SAD SEPARATION: Arthur and Barbara Broome are stuck on separate floors in their Takanini home and have to communicate by email, phone or speaking to each other through the windows.

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Christmas day will mark a sad milestone for Arthur and Barbara Broome.

On December 25 they will have been separated in their two-storey Takanini home – one upstairs, one down – for 400 days.

They are still waiting for the wheelchair lift Barbara, who has multiple sclerosis, needs so she can visit Arthur, who has terminal cancer.

Barbara, 77, was diagnosed in 1968 and has been in a wheelchair for 19 years.She lives upstairs because the second floor bathroom which is larger than the one on the ground floor was modified to make it easier for her to use.

Arthur, 76, lives downstairs so help is more accessible if he has a medical emergency.

He can’t climb the stairs or get around easily because his rare form of cancer weakens his bones.

Arthur spent 10 years in hospital and care before deciding last September to return home to die.

He says he wanted to be with his wife of 53 years during his final days.

"I wasn’t going to die in hospital."

But after he had been home just six weeks their 18-year-old wheelchair lift started to show signs of wear.

Barbara had just switched to a new motorised wheelchair that was larger and heavier and the lift couldn’t cope with the extra weight.

The Health Ministry accepted her application to replace the lift and on November 20 last year it was removed and a recycled replacement put in.

Barbara expected the lift to be up and running that day and all the work to be done within a fortnight.

But the replacement lift was old and smaller than the original and was far too narrow for her to use.

Much time has been spent trying to correct its "many faults", Barbara says.

Left stranded on separate floors, the couple now communicate by phone and email, or by speaking through the windows.

"We’re just so anxious to have talks and time together," Barbara says.

"We need time to talk about his dying ... we need time to talk about all those things you don’t discuss out the window or on the phone."

The ministry hired a project management firm earlier this year to investigate different options and find a contractor to replace the lift.

But Barbara hasn’t been told when the work will start, let alone be finished.

"What I want from them is to give urgency to their decision to replace the lift and for them to put pressure on the contractors to get the job done," she says.

"I’m a pretty strong woman but this has been really tough. It feels like we have been neglected."

The ministry has offered interim solutions such as alternative accommodation and setting up temporary facilities downstairs so Barbara can stay on the ground floor with Arthur.

She can also be carried up and down by ambulance staff.

Barbara has tried staying in a motel but wasn’t able to rent a room long-term because it is the start of the busy holiday season.

While she can call on ambulance staff to carry her up and down the stairs for medical checks or similar appointments she still wouldn’t be able to use the downstairs bathroom.

"The alternative suggestions were appreciated but they’re not viable," she says.

The Papakura Courier asked the ministry when the wait would end.

Health and disability services national operations manager Trish Davis says consultants are "seeking proposals that meet Mrs Broome’s long-term needs".

The ministry envisages a lift should be installed and operational by May or sooner depending on the option.

Asked if the ministry was waiting for Mr Broome to die in the hope the issue would go away, Ms Davis replied: "The ministry disagrees with the premise of the question.

"We are doing our utmost to resolve this issue as soon as possible."

- © Fairfax NZ News