Neil was first introduced to Extra Care through the NHS’s Step Down initiative, which enables people to be discharged from hospital into short term, community-based accommodation.

Although he moved in at the beginning of 2019 following a leg amputation, his health complications began much earlier, in 2011, after he developed a serious infection from a biopsy.

Coupled with the repercussions of steroid injections for his arthritis, which worsened the infection, Neil was admitted to hospital with septic arthritis and spent a year receiving treatment. As a result, subsequent knee replacements also became infected and when he had an accident in 2018 and broke his leg, the surgeon advised removing Neil’s right leg above the knee.

“From 2011 until I had the amputation in 2019, I had 30 procedures, including two in one day,” said Neil.

“The surgeon said we could have a go at taking muscle from my back to try and repair the damage but explained I was fighting a losing battle, so I agreed to go ahead.”

Neil was admitted to hospital in October 2018 and his surgery took place at a specialist hospital on 3 January 2019. He was then transferred to a more localised hospital to begin his recovery.

Whilst in hospital Neil - who was on long-term sick at the time - was evicted and made homeless. With nowhere to go, the NHS organised for him to move into a Housing 21 Extra Care scheme in February through its Step Down process. The initiative looks to speed up hospital discharges by ensuring patients move into suitable and supported accommodation.

He said: “The landlord did me a favour really; I had been living in a studio flat and it wouldn’t have been suitable. Without the Step Down scheme I would have been stuck in the hospital, waiting for the council to find me somewhere suitable to live.

“Although I didn’t really need any help physically, it was more the mental support that I needed. It was very daunting at first.”

Whilst staying at the scheme through the Step Down initiative, Neil applied to live there and officially moved in the following month, in March. As a former Petty Officer in the Navy, Neil was considered a priority through Housing 21’s commitment to Armed Forces veterans.

“I joined the Navy when I was 16-and-a-half and spent 17 years in the Navy, including service during the Cold War, before I left in 1988,” said Neil.

Housing 21’s history dates back to 1921 when it supported the Royal British Legion to house disabled ex-servicemen and widows and later, older ex-servicemen and women. More recently, in honour of our military roots, it has signed the Armed Forces Covenant pledge, demonstrating a commitment to supporting members of the armed forces.