Whoahhh!  Is this the most boring topic ever? Well, it would certainly be worth a nomination for this year’s most boring story of the year awards but it does have its merits.

Before you slink into a torpor and start fantasising about a warm holiday in the Maldives let me set the scene.  CityWest Homes is a housing organisation that manages Westminster City Council’s 22,000 homes including all maintenance and estate management through their local estate offices.

Bear with me….make a coffee perhaps, sip a Red Bull, but bear with me…..

Now, normally, most disabled people have to wait months and even years for any Council to make special alterations to their homes.  With potholes, leaking roofs, plumbing emergencies, boiler failures etc all taking priority, councils have often put disability improvements to the very bottom of the pile.  Usually they’re just buried for good.

Yet for people who are disabled, especially the newly disabled like veterans from Iraq or elderly stroke victims, having to wait months and years for home improvements can make their suffering unbearable.

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This is why I’m very impressed with the team at CityWest.  What they’ve done is set a blueprint for all councils nationwide by seriously shortening the waiting time for mobility aids.

The building and property services team, which installs mobility equipment in homes with physically disabled residents, has managed to shorten the waiting times for urgent tasks by 50 percent (from thirteen weeks to just six).  Now let me tell you that’s seriously quick.   For people used to waiting 3, 4 or even 5 months, sometimes longer, the prospect of getting their mobility aid installed in just six weeks is OUTSTANDING.

In 2010 so far, the team, consisting of just 5 members, has more than tripled the total number of adaptations completed. A big round of applause to Rowena Ng and her staff because not only are her colleagues dramatically improving waiting times, they’ve also made it a point to listen to the recommendations made by tenants themselves.

The reaction of residents? The service provided by the team has been rated 5/5 by 70% of participants in a recent survey.

With the services provided by the team including installation of special equipment like mobility baths, along with adaptations like bath lifts, special stairlifts, hoists, and ramps for the patients, CityWest should get a medal. 

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Why can’t every council behave like this?