A WOMAN with muscular dystrophy whose care was slashed from 104 hours a week to just 40 lost a High Court appeal yesterday against the cut, writes Sam Tobin.

VI, who is bed and wheelchair-bound and is reliant on carers for all personal care including using the toilet, sought to challenge the August 2017 cuts by Lewisham Council.

The woman, who is 55, is unable to bear weight, has restricted dexterity in her hands and also requires the help of a carer to get in and out of a chair or her bed.

Lewisham provided VI with 104 care hours a week, including “double-handed” care three times a day and carers for eight hours every night.

In June 2016 the council said VI’s care would be reduced given Lewisham’s “limited resources,” adding that her overnight care needs could be managed with a pressure-relieving mattress and incontinence pads.

VI argued that her condition was degenerative and would not improve, meaning it was “irrational” to cut her carer hours by more than half.

Ruling in the council's favour judge Andrew Henshaw QC stated there was “no basis” for arguing that Lewisham’s assessment of VI’s needs was irrational.