Just to clarify; in these cases the assessment of need is done by an Occupational Therapist. These are employed either by the NHS or the Local Authority Social Services Department. The budget for provision of equipment and home aids is held by Social Services. No amount of yelling at the NHS staff will produce a result, as they do not control the allocation of resources, and nor do they carry out the work. This is done either by directly employed Social Services staff or (more likely) private contractors working on behalf of Social Services.
Lizzie; I'm not questioning your competence here, only your willingness to listen to good advice. If you want to resolve this, your first port of call should be the case manager at Social Services, and if that doesn't work, try involving your local Councillor. MP's can be useful too, as a sort of battering ram to remove logjams. Try a low-key approach first, as going straight to the press (who are scum and looking for a sensationalist 'angle'that will probably not help Vi at all) will just produce a defensive reaction and may well entrench the situation.
Having said all that, if you really want to fix this, do what I did when my Mum had her hips replaced; buy a rail and fix it, or get someone from Age Concern (who get funding from Social Services) to do it for you. It's a quick and easy job, I just used two sturdy towel rail brackets and a length of steel tubing. Six screws, fifteen minutes at the most, and it cost me £11.
Hope you get this sorted soon, but be calm!
Tim