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Available for over a year

How pensioners in a Worcestershire care home are stuck inside their rooms due to a lift left unrepaired, for half a year. Around 50 elderly people live in St David's House in Redditch - last August the only lift in the building broke down, and it still hasn't been fixed. A stairlift has been put in place as a temporary stop-gap, but it only has one key and can only be operated by a carer. But like most sheltered housing sits, only one or two carers on average visit a day. The stairlift also apparently takes approximately fifteen minutes to use from start to finish. It's left many of the residents confined to their rooms, who have been talking to our reporter Tom Edwards. We have contacted Redditch Borough Council - they say they have been making ongoing repairs to the lift over the last few months, but as "parts are becoming more difficult to find", they're now looking at a 'full life' replacement. The statement adds that they've been "notified about some practical issues" regarding the stairlift, and they are trying to get the proper lift replaced, with residents being updated "periodically".