I am so angry.
Today I read over at Dave Hill’s blog that Hackney Council had been awarded - as it confidently expected - a three star rating for its services.
I bit my tongue because, yes, I have noticed a bit of an improvement recently. There’s a lot wrong round here, but I’ve been hoping the good will take root.
And then, just now, I read this:
A pensioner who died after being evicted by police had refused to move from his squalid council flat into the refurbished flat next door, it was revealed today.
The man, named locally as John Wise, was found collapsed in the street minutes after officers forced him to move from his home.
Police, bailiffs and council staff arrived at the Kelshall Court estate in Brownswood Road, Hackney, east London, yesterday morning with a court order to rehouse the 77-year-old. When he refused to allow them inside they forced entry and removed him.
He was 77 years old. Seventy-seven.
I used to spend my summer breaks from university working as a care assistant in old people’s homes. Every week I would be coaxing schizophrenic OAPs, moved from Rauceby Mental Hospital (now closed), from bedrooms they had no business to be in. Or I’d be following people with Alzheimers as they escaped and headed towards houses they’d lived in decades beforehand, encouraging them to come back with me. It took a bit of tact, a bit of charm, a bit of failure and a lot of time. And above it all it took reassurance.
What none of those people needed - ill, or frail or not - was a crowd of bailiffs, officials and police. It is inexcusable that a council terrifies and treats vulnerable people in this way.
And what the poor, dead man certainly didn’t need was officials passing the buck over his corpse:
A Hackney Council spokesman said the properties concerned are owned by the authority but managed by Hackney Homes a separate not-for-profit company, wholly owned by the council, that is responsible for its residential properties.
The spokesman said: “This is clearly a complex case. We await the outcome of any official investigation and will be assisting Hackney Homes in its internal review of this incident.”
Shame. Utter shame.
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Comments
You gotta wonder how these assholes look at themselves in the mirror - much less pat themselves on the back for 3 stars.
You’re right, Ben. And it’s the same with the schools, and the hospitals. We’ve forgotten how to work with each other as PEOPLE.
How have things got better recently? Just out of curiosity…
Yes, I have still to write about my experience of Homerton’s maternity ward: very much rip up the birth plans, get what you’re given and, now the baby’s alive, we couldn’t care less about you.
I will write about it though. It was a staggering experience.
How have things got better? Just small things Ms B - a bit more pride taken in our amenities (like sorting out those lavatories; or doing something about Millfield play park; or the great improvements at Springfield Park over the last couple of years). Little steps that help people regain a bit of pride in their surroundings - which I think is vital. I think the more recent signs are encouraging, especially as Hackney’s Environment Services have just dropped from a 3 star to a 2 star rating (I didn’t see that in any press release!). Of course, the cynic in me says that the improvements are targets-related, rather than motivated by a desire to improve our lives, but let’s wait and see…
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