A grandad has resorted to wearing slippers for nearly two years because he says a hospital has been unable to provide specialist footwear that fits him.

Denis Judd, of Beechwood Avenue, Milton Regis, has had foot drop for more than a decade.

The condition means the 83-year-old, who walks with a stick, needs specially-adapted shoes.

When his previous pair supplied by the NHS wore out he tried to arrange replacements from Medway Maritime Hospital in Gillingham, but 20 months later and he is still waiting.

“I went for a first fitting for new shoes at the hospital in February last year,” he said.

“They have made three or four pairs, at £250-£300 each, and all of them have been too small or do not fit properly. I’ve been back about 12 times since. I last went four or five weeks ago and I’ve heard nothing since.”

In the meantime, Mr Judd, a widower, who has a son and three grandchildren, says the only footwear he can find that fit him are carpet slippers.

“I just can’t get shoes on,” he said. “They’re all too small –mainly too narrow.

“Slippers are the only thing I can get on and I wear them through rain and snow. I’ve been through roughly about 12 to 14 pairs.

“When you have snow and ice and I go through it in slippers there’s no grip on them so you slide.

“Your feet get wet and then they get sore.”

Mr Judd, who was a builder before he retired, says staff at the hospital in Gillingham “aren’t interested”.

A spokesman for Medway Maritime Hospital said senior staff in the orthotics department were aware of Mr Judd’s problem.

She added: “At Medway NHS Foundation Trust, it is our highest priority that each patient receives the highest quality of care at all times.

“Our orthotics department provides state of the art devices that are specifically tailored to meet our patients’ needs.

“We cannot comment on individual patients’ circumstances but we have sought to contact Denis Judd to remedy the concerns he has raised and reach a suitable outcome for his health requirements.”