About Green Doctor
One cold, December morning Green Doctor received a phone call from a Police Community Support Officer (PCSO) at Otley Police Station in Leeds. His tone: alarmed.
One cold, December morning Green Doctor received a phone call from a Police Community Support Officer (PCSO) at Otley Police Station in Leeds. His tone: alarmed.
I was taken aback by the conditions Mark Lister* is living in. He has no heating and his only running water is provided to him by a tap in the cellar. As such, he has hundreds of bottles of water stored in old disinfectant bottles.
The picture painted by the PCSO was severe but, sadly, not unusual:
Mark would wash outside of his home once a week. He had no cooking facilities aside from an old, unhygienic microwave.
He had taped up all gaps around the windows and doors, so there was a distinct lack of ventilation around the home. As a result, thick black mould had spread across most of the internal walls, with severe damp present throughout the property. Windows were broken and rotting, electrics were in a dangerous state and there was a large hole in the ceiling of the landing.
Mark himself was found in ailing health too. He lived with blackouts, respiratory problems, back nerve pain, varicose veins, low blood pressure and a speech impediment, despite not having visited the GP in years.
He had very little cash and seemed to be unaware of any help or support for his financial situation.
On receiving this information, we responded in the same way we do with all our cases: promptly and proactively.
We started with our usual home visit to find out more about his situation. We gained a full picture of both Mark Lister’s poor living conditions and mental ill-health during this visit.
We discovered Mark had some savings. We also identified his anxiety over lack of income (he’s been unemployed for over 40 years due to low self-confidence), and not having enough money to buy food. Having been deprived of food as a child, this was a particular concern, preventing him from spending any money on house repairs for fear of going hungry.
How we supported Mark
As a result of our visit to Mark, we were able to make significant improvements to both his short and long-term living conditions:
- We issued him with two emergency heaters, a hot water bottle, blanket, gloves, hat, four LEDs, and four dehumidifiers.
- We helped him access the council Home Improvement Loan scheme at 0% interest to help finance the repairs to his roof, windows, and floor. We also helped him apply for the Warm Well Homes grant scheme to purchase a central heating system (at a value of £5,000) and loft insulation (at a value of £300).
- We brought his case to Public Health Leeds and referred Mark to Adult Social Care for support for his childhood trauma and speech impediment.
- We also referred him to the Citizens Advice Bureau and Connect Well for further support with accessing information and support in the future.
*Name and image has been changed to protect privacy.