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The hospital baby without a home to go to for Christmas
Mark Blunden23 Dec 2008
A baby who has been in hospital almost since birth is unable to go home because council bosses cannot rehouse his family.
Five-month-old Tommy Bullman has been ready to leave University College London Hospital since October, but now nurses are witnessing all his childhood “firsts” instead of his parents.
His mother, father, brother and sister need to move out of their two-bedroom Angel flat into a home twice the size to accommodate the specialist medical equipment he needs.
Islington council cannot find a new home for his family, despite having 145 vacant properties and spending more than £3,000 a month housing one set of tenants with a private landlord.
Tommy's mother, Sarah, said: “For 19 out of the 22 weeks of his life Tommy has been in hospital.
“He hardly knows us and we're missing out on all those firsts — he recently rolled over and I missed it, the nurse saw it.
“I'm frightened he's going to say mum' and I'll miss it. He will already struggle as he sees UCLH as home.”
Tommy was born in UCLH on 21 July but readmitted three weeks later after failing to put on weight.
He cannot swallow and was diagnosed with bulbar palsy, a brain disorder which affects about 1,250 people in Britain.
He needs his own room so the Bullmans were given extra housing points. They applied for two suitable disabled flats, but were turned down because wheelchair users get first refusal.
Some estimates suggest it costs UCLH up to £600 a day to care for Tommy, who requires 24-hour supervision.
Tommy needs oxygen fed through bulky equipment, a large suction machine to stop saliva going into his lungs and a night-time nurse.
Mrs Bullman, 33, said: “It's a nightmare, he's just a baby and Islington council is neglecting him by not giving us a place to bring him home to.
“He's going to be in hospital for the New Year and we can't see a light at the end of the tunnel.”
She added: “My seven-year-old daughter Lauren has written a letter to Santa asking could he leave the keys for a new house under the Christmas tree.” Mrs Bullman spends £30 a week travelling to UCLH every day. Her husband, Elton, 36, works 12-hour days at the Post Office so only sees Tommy at weekends. The couple also have a five-year-old son, Freddie.
The family hope Tommy will sleep at home on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, but will have to sit with him through the night.
When he wakes up on Christmas Day, his presents will include a new walker and a Winnie the Pooh rattle.
There are 15,695 people on Islington's housing waiting list and it emerged at the weekend the borough pays £3,180 a month to a private landlord to house tenants in one large five-bedroom property. In other cases some older people are living in family-size properties after their relatives moved out, but the Liberal-Democrat-run council has no legal powers to move them elsewhere.
Recently the board of Homes for Islington, which runs the council's housing stock, enjoyed a £3,000 away-day at a four-star Mayfair hotel despite spending £2.6 million refurbishing their Highbury headquarters.
A Facebook group to support Tommy has more than 3,000 members and they are being helped by local Labour councillor Shelley Coupland.
Terry Stacy, Islington's executive member for housing and community safety, said: “I am personally monitoring the situation to ensure that the council is doing everything it can to find them a more suitable property.
“Our medical officer has been talking in detail to the hospital to discuss the family's needs and make sure we find the right place for them.”
He added that in the case of the £3,180 a month rent paid to a private landlord, the price was set by a government agency “meaning we have no control over how much we pay”.
Reader views (4)
This is a sad story and i feel very sorry for the baby.
But i side with susan; people should stop having children that they can't afford.
Children are a privilege; not a right.
- Revs, London, 23/12/2008 17:04
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that is an absolute sad story - but have we run out og 1 million pounds houses? it seems the norm to provide at the tax payers cost very big expensive houses - come on it is xmas surely we can afford naother one
- L Parker, london, 23/12/2008 14:03
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If you live in a 2 bed place what are you doing having a third child - trying to leap up the housing ladder? Whether the child has special needs or not there's still not enough room. They've got a daughter aged 7 and and son aged 5. So what's the sleeping arrangements at the moment?
- Susan, Slough, Berkshire, 23/12/2008 13:50
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This is disgraceful - just walk around any social housing estate in London and you will see mostly foreigners with large families who have been given priority over the native population. I suggest little Tommy's parents change his nationality to Afghan or Iraqui - then they will qualify for a mansion house with all expenses paid! My sympathies to this family and I hope this poor little lad gets to go home to them soon.
- Janet, London, UK, 23/12/2008 13:22
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