RELATIVES of patients at an £1,000-a-week Oxford care home have said their loved ones are having their ‘human rights violated’ while a broken lift leaves disabled residents ‘isolated and stranded’ upstairs.

Headington Care Home on Roosevelt Drive has rooms for 60 residents – 52 on the ground floor and eight upstairs.

However since the lift broke more than two weeks ago, the eight patients upstairs have been ‘stranded’ and can’t get outside during the hot weather, leaving relatives worried about their safety.

John Evans, whose wife lives on the top floor, said he was annoyed and frustrated that the lift was broken, initially being put down to an obscure missing part that could only be made overseas.

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He added that the upstairs of the house had no permanent air conditioning and that a fix scheduled for Thursday was not completed.

The 60-year-old, who lives in Shiplake, said: “Once they ordered the part, it didn’t work, so another man was sent to look at the problem.

“It’s gone beyond a parody.”

Headington Care Home was previously rated 'requires improvement' in March 2016 by CQC. 

In its inspection – published in April 2017 – the inspectors rated it ‘overall good’ but said it still required improvement in some areas.

Mr Evans added: “Upstairs there are seven people who can’t walk – they are just completely isolated.

“Nobody can get out and visitors on walking frames can’t get in. My wife’s human rights are actually being violated.

“I’ve written a letter to somebody in charge and he is basically saying that this is not a human rights issue, it’s a lift issue.

"I’ve replied saying ‘well how many days does she have to be stranded before it’s a human rights issue?’ but I’ve had no reply.”

In a statement, Headington Care Home said it 'took its responsibilities as a care provider very seriously' and went on: "We regret any inconvenience caused by the lift being temporarily out of order. We expect it to be in service again this week.

“We have also placed an order for a stair lift as a further option and this is currently being manufactured and will be installed shortly, so we will have both a lift and stair lift."

The home also said that residents on the first floor had the use of a 'large communal lounge as well as their own en-suite rooms'. Because of the hot weather, managers said they had brought in air conditioning units to make the top floor more comfortable.

The home added: “We have been working with the lift contractor at board level to get the lift back into service as quickly as possible."