Widow 'stuck in hospital' as repairs to lift in Sheffield Santuary Housing Association flats 'not carried out'

A Sheffield widow looks set to be stuck in hospital after Christmas, after a housing association's pledge to fix lifts failed to materialise.

Sanctuary Housing Association told The Star that the lifts in grandmother-of-four Mary Kooseenlin's block of flats would be mended on December 22.

But today she said they were still out of order, meaning she would not be able to return home from a palliative care ward at the Northern General Hospital tomorrow (December 27).

Mary suffers from pulmonary fibrosis, a serious degenerative lung disease, which has left her disabled. She needs a mobility scooter to get around.

She was taken into hospital a month ago because of the illness. Mary lives in flats run by Sanctuary, called Sycamore Heights, in Shiregreen, and contacted The Star last week concerned she would not be able to return home, even though health bosses had arranged a package of care, which would see her visited twice a day.

On Friday (December 22), Sanctuary told the Star in a statement it would fix the lifts that day. But on Christmas Day they remained out of order, she said. A picture taken on Christmas Eve shows the out of order sign remained.

Mary, aged 77, told The Star today: "I have asked about going home, but they (health workers) have said if I go home it will make me housebound. They said they cannot do that. Sanctuary must be the worst (housing association) in the country."

She suffers from pulmonary fibrosis, a serious degenerative lung disease, which has left her disabled. She needs a mobility scooter to get around.

Mary believes she will now be unable to go home to use the care that is now ready for her, because she would not get to her flat on the upper floor of a two story building.

A spokesperson for Sanctuary said on Friday December 22: "We were first made aware of an issue with the lifts earlier this month and our specialist contractor attended to carry out repairs. Unfortunately, some additional parts were needed so our contractor is visiting the scheme again today (22 December) to fix the problem."

No update has been available from Sanctuary.