Beating hospital bed blocking – Aspire open adapted house in Clydebank

The national spinal cord injury charity ASPIRE, in association with Margaret Blackwood Housing Association, has opened its first fully adapted house in Scotland – a new addition to the charity’s Short-Term Supported Housing programme for people with spinal cord injuries across the UK. The property was officially opened by John McFall, MP for West Dunbartonshire, who warmly welcomed the initiative which will enable people with spinal injuries to move out of hospital and back into the community. ASPIRE focuses on working with people with spinal cord injury in providing the practical help they need to regain their independence and to reintegrate back into society at all levels.  Re-housing is a major problem faced by paralysed patients and their delayed discharge from spinal units causes a great deal of stress. Instead of planning for the future and rebuilding their lives, the lack of a permanent address may mean they are unable to source a carer, begin out-patient therapy, apply for specialist equipment, register with a GP or even begin to find a social worker. An un-adapted residence may also mean an unnecessary and dispiriting move to a totally inappropriate residential care home in order to free beds on a spinal unit – hardly a suitable start in adapting to life in a wheelchair!

ASPIRE’s Short-Term Supported Housing programme has been developed to help redress this problem. ASPIRE currently has seven fully adapted houses within England with several more properties becoming available during the coming year. The ASPIRE House in Dalmuir, Clydebank is the first of three in Scotland in a partnership with Margaret Blackwood Housing Association and will support newly-discharged patients from the Queen Elizabeth Spinal Injuries Unit at the Southern General Hospital in Glasgow.

Peter Mountford-Smith, Chief Executive of Margaret Blackwood Housing Association, is excited by the partnership potential. “We believe in diverse communities in which people can expand their opportunities, exercise choice and maximise their potential. We want to drive innovation and quality in accessible housing and in support services in Scotland. This collaboration with ASPIRE, an organisation whose vision is so closely aligned with our own, really is a perfect match”.

ASPIRE’s Chief Executive, Brian Carlin, said: “The partnership with Margaret Blackwood Housing Association is a wonderful opportunity to provide accessible housing to spinally injured people within Scotland and assist them in rebuilding their lives and face an uncertain future with increased confidence.”

The overall cost of adapting the house was £25,000, with £20,000 coming from Communities Scotland in the form of Housing Association Grant (HAG).

For further information, contact Paul Leighton, Publicity & Communication Officer, telephone: 0131 317 0117, email PaulL@mbha.org.uk at Margaret Blackwood Housing Association.

05 October 2006

Top of Page