A HUSBAND whose wife has been left wheelchair-bound by multiple sclerosis has hit out at health chiefs for failing to ensure that her doctors' surgery has proper facilities for the disabled.

John Inett, 54, says he will take legal advice if his wife Denise, 44, injures herself at the Runcorn practice.

In the meantime, the couple are opting for home visits from medical staff and seek advice on the telephone rather than visit the surgery.

Mr Inett has been demanding the installation rails and side support rails into the toilets and next to the district nurses' surgery at Grove House in Runcorn's High Street for more than a year.

But bosses at the centre have told the couple they will have to wait until October for the rails to be installed.

Mr Inett, of Walpole Road, Run-corn, said: 'There are no disabled facilities in that building, and so far my wife has been without any support.

'I approached the issue a year ago and so it can get very frustrating.

'Without the grab rails my wife and others like her are forced to walk from the door to the toilet and someone's going to have a fall.

'I've been told they're going to install new facilities in October, but why must it be left so late when workmen are in the building already?'

After penning out a previous letter to the surgery in October last year, the retired ICI technician attended a meeting with doctors and was informed of the plans to revamp the building with new facilities this autumn.

But his demands won't be met until new Government guidelines come into force in October which are designed to address the issue of disabled facilities.

Denise, who was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis 19 years ago, said: 'I don't want to attend the surgery any more, I'm not happy about going in case I injure myself, but we're both very frustrated about the situation.'

In a statement, Christine Lead-better, practice manager of Grove House surgery, said the practice is meeting all the Government targets required of them and has begun to refurbish the property in time for October.

She said: 'We are aware of the proposed plans around access for disability, and we have been in active discussions with the owners of the building for a while now.

'We know that work on disabled facilities has got to be done by October, and we already have builders on site at the moment.

'We currently comply with all the Government's building regulations and we will make sure the surgery is safe.'