A DEVASTATED mother says social services are failing her family by refusing extra care to help her look after her disabled son and husband as her own health deteriorates.

Daniella Modos-Cutter, who is herself disabled, cares for her three-year-old son Aiden who has autism, hyper mobility problems and suffers from seizures and her husband Conrad who also suffers seizures and has learning difficulties.

Mrs Modos-Cutter, of Clayton Road, Dovercourt, currently gets three hours help, which allows her to get out and about with the help of a carer, but is using it to take her son to his hospital appointments in Colchester.

They family are also waiting for a stair lift to help Mrs Modos-Cutter, who has Ehlers-Danlos syndrome which limits her mobility, upstairs.

She said: “The last few years I have been caring for them on my own. I get some support but I don’t think it is enough.

“We moved home so we could get a stair lift – we could only be considered if we had straight stairs. But they won’t put it in because of my husband and sons seizures."

A spokesman for Essex County Council said: “We work closely with people needing care and support across the county to make sure their needs are properly assessed and then supported.

“We have worked with the family in question on a number of occasions, and while we sympathise with their position, unfortunately they do not meet the criteria necessary to receive the level of support they have asked for.

“The criteria which we assess a family’s needs on are based on a national framework set by the Government, which helps ensure that we are even-handed with our decisions.”