Child's health suffers in 'freezing' States house

AN 18-MONTH-OLD baby has suffered from pneumonia and asthma this winter while living in a States house without central heating. The boy's grandmother, Debbie Ingrouille, 43, who wants to adopt the boy, said her doctor had now written to the Housing Authority about the case.

She is concerned for the health of her grandson, who suffers asthmatic wheezing and from a cough. An X-ray revealed he had also suffered pneumonia, she said.

'My doctor has said his asthma is not going to get any better with the cold,' she said.

Mrs Ingrouille, a care assistant, has bought four electric heaters for the three-bedroom States house on Les Genats Estate but is now worried about her electricity bill.

'The house is freezing, absolutely freezing, and there is damp - I've been told it is condensation and to keep the windows open.

'But I cannot at night because it is too cold.

'I would like to have central heating installed but I cannot afford to pay.

'We are in the 21st century: I wonder how many people on the Housing Authority have got to go home to one coal fire in the whole house?'

Mrs Ingrouille said the house was sometimes so cold she could see her breath in the air and she had to get dressed in her bed during this latest cold snap.

Toddler Kian was prescribed a steroid inhaler and stronger antibiotics when it emerged he had contracted pneumonia, she said.

A spokesman for the Housing Authority confirmed that one-third of States houses do not have any form of central heating.

The rest have either full or partial central heating.

'Full central heating is also installed in older properties that become empty and require full renovation.

'These average approximately 50 a year.

'Renovation work would typically include, among other work, installation or upgrading of central heating systems, together with improving insulation with thermal boarding.'

The spokesman said the authority spent £50,000 a year installing central heating in properties not being renovated where a need was justified.

He added that the authority might undertake work if there was a significant medical condition. Or, in special cases, the Social Security Authority might provide funding.

Deputy Leon Gallienne, who has an interest in housing matters and attended the recent States tenants' meetings organised by the Housing Authority, said he would be prepared to take up Mrs Ingrouille's case.

The issue of central heating in States houses had come up at the meetings - which were closed to the media - but people were told there was a programme of renovation - which had helped to reassure them, he said.

Deputy Gallienne said it was suggested that a new tenants' association be set up and a group of tenants is considering the idea, he added.

* The Housing Authority confirmed that it receives 'numerous' letters each week from GPs and other health professionals including specialists, occupational therapists, psychiatric social workers and health visitors.

'Some of these letters raise specific medical concerns, others more general comments about an individual's housing situation,' said a spokesman.

The authority attaches considerable importance to health issues in assessing an application for States housing, transfers and the urgency of need for any additional facilities or improvements.

'Where the medical condition is particularly serious, the authority can and does treat the case as a priority outside the normal points system.'

(Picture - Debbie Ingrouille and her grandson, Kian.)