Albion Towers, on the edge of Pendleton, is currently undergoing a £3.9million 'modernisation' programme – but its care of one resident who lives on the 6th floor has gone back to the dark ages.
John McDonough is almost 85, and is severely disabled with arthritis and major breathing difficulties... "I've got to walk with sticks" he says "I'm in a bad way, it takes me all my time just to get to my bedroom and back."
During the refurbishment, John has been almost a prisoner in his own flat, as, first, he couldn't get his mobility scooter in or out of the block due to a narrowed entrance downstairs, and, lately the lift on his own floor has been out of action for work to be done.
"This lift is now out for twelve weeks" he says "I'm supposed to sit here and rot – I've been a prisoner here for last 26 weeks."
If it wasn't for fellow resident Paul Midgely putting him in a wheelchair and getting him out he wouldn't have left the flat at all during that time...
"They've just been ignoring me" says John "I'm just an old man who's going to die anyway. I'm 85 on 12th April and I have difficulties breathing and everything else. As well as that I go through two asthma inhalers a week. I am not being looked after in any way by Salix or the Albion Towers Co-operative office."
John initially put in a formal complaint and, as a result was promised a temporary move while the building work was carried out. They showed him four places. The first he couldn't get his scooter in or out, the second was filthy with a three month wait, and the third was a seventh floor flat!
The fourth place was in sheltered accommodation... "I couldn't even get in to measure up" John recalls "I phoned up the Salix girl and said 'You've got me so depressed I feel like committing suicide, that's how bad it is'. She said 'In that case I'll have to get onto the emergency services to say we've got a tenant talking about committing suicide' – but no-one ever came."
"He phoned me and I had to leave my friend's funeral to come back here to sort him out" says Paul "Last week John had to go to the bank, so I carried him down one flight of stairs but the lift was broke, so I had to get a staff member to help me carry him back to his flat in his wheelchair."
Apart from Mary, a domestic who is paid by John to come in once a week, and Paul doing his bit, John would receive no help at all... "Yes, without Mary and Paul I would have been left to rot and die" agrees John.
"It boils down to neglect; they have a duty of care" says Paul "Salix Homes should have its own team for vulnerable people – where are they? That's the question."
Paul did find an empty flat on his ninth floor corridor for John where the lift is working and Salix has agreed to a temporary move. That was eight weeks ago, John says, and it still isn't ready. Meanwhile John remains a prisoner.
It's one of a catalogue of horrors that have engulfed residents. John shows a final reminder estimated gas bill for the last quarter of £316 – even though the gas was taken out last September. No-one told the supplier... "He was panicking and was going to pay it" says John "He's still getting threatening text messages from supplier, and there's many others going through the same thing."
And Paul's own flat has had numerous problems, with huge gaps left under fire doors and windows that he's had to pack with newspaper and tape. He even took the City Mayor, who lives in the same social housing block, to his flat to show him... "He said it was unacceptable".
While John's flat is now being sorted after months, other residents, the Salford Star understands, have not been so lucky.
The Salford Star has asked Salix Homes for a comment but, as yet, there's been no response.
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