Let-down over state of disabled facilities at Moray centre
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A CEREBRAL palsy sufferer and her carer have hit out over the state of facilities for the disabled at Moray Leisure Centre.
Marie Rand (54), from Portsoy, and her Macduff-based carer from charity Real Life Options, Elaine Watt, were left so dismayed after a recent "wasted trip" to the Elgin centre that they were moved to write to the centre's manager over broken and age-worn equipment for disabled users.
The pair had no option but to leave on Saturday, February 1, after discovering the hoist in the relaxation suite was out of action – and were later furious to learn the equipment for disabled access to the jacuzzi had been hardly working for at least a year.
They have now received a letter of apology from management, who said funding was being sought to replace the hoist within the next financial year. The cost of replacement is estimated at between £6,000 to £10,000.
Some £500,000 was spent revamping the centre's gym in April last year. Ms Rand and Ms Watt questioned why the gym revamp was deemed a priority when equipment to allow equal access required attention.
Now managed by independent operator Moray Leisure Limited, the centre has been working its way back to health after a financial crisis nearly closed its doors in 2017. It was saved by a £120,000 lifeline from Moray Council.
Ms Watt said: "We went up to use the jacuzzi, which we've been shown before about a year ago. I don't think it could've have been working then. They didn't actually show us it working but they showed us all the facilities. And we thought 'great'.
"So we went up two Saturdays ago, asked to book to go into that area. And a staff member said 'hold on, I'll just check if the hoist is working'."
The pair were told the equipment was not working and staff had no information on when it was likely to be fixed. They were later told it had been in that state for about a year.
The women thought they might use the pool-side hoist and chair instead but found they couldn't as it had no safety belt or footplate.
Ms Rand said: "I wouldn't have gone on it."
Ms Watt added: "We just left, very disheartened."
Last year another Moray disability carer, Elaine Chapman, complained to management and took the matter to Richard Lochhead MSP.
Mrs Chapman said this week: "In one of my previous employment posts last year, I realised that I couldn't take wheelchair-user clients into the jacuzzi as the hoist was broken.
"I felt at the time I had to speak up on their behalf. The hoist above the jacuzzi was out of action around September 2018."
In his letter last week to Ms Rand, leisure manager John Duguid said the hoist had been intermittent in its availability over the last 12 months.
Mr Duguid said: "As per the letter that I provided, this is a matter that we have been working on for a regrettable period of time.
"We have been contacted on a number of occasions by MSP Richard Lochhead and user groups who wish to use the jacuzzi. On each occasion I have expressed that finances at the time have not allowed us to replace this piece of equipment and I have asked for their support and guidance on sourcing funding – the last quotes received were between £6,000 to £10,000 – that would allow us to replace the hoist on a shorter timeframe.
"Unfortunately, the help that I have asked for has not produced an outcome that would allow us to pursue a replacement. We have an ageing building that requires multiple statutory items to be replaced or upgraded, our capital budget has been spent or committed already.
"A commitment was made that if continued failure to source funding occurred, I would continue to build the required revenue to replace the hoist as early as possible into the new financial year. Developments within the leisure centre are able to take place as financial arrangements are put in place to allow the repayment of expenditure over a number of years – this allows us to deliver large-scale projects without the upfront required capital. This is not the case with small projects where the capital is required upfront."
Moray Leisure said in October it had seen an upturn in subscriptions since the installation of its new 100-station fitness suite.
