Rap Music Care Home Gets Axe

Inspectors in Halifax have ordered the closure of a nursing home where rap music was blasted into elderly residents’ rooms. They also found meals were often cold, rooms shabby and The Haven Nursing Home was not managed properly, according to the social services experts. They have now demanded the home, which they described as poor, to be shut down. Inspectors found the building dilapidated, staff not properly trained or recruited and the residents needs were not being met. “This is a poor home,” says the Commission for Social Care Inspection in its latest report.

“There is no leadership, guidance and direction for staff to ensure residents receive consistent quality care which results in some practices that do not promote their health, safety and welfare.”

The report said one resident had only four baths in seven weeks, and three of those only happened because the family asked. It also found there were no written records of residents’ money held for safe keeping. It was stored in the drugs cupboard.

“There are practices in the home that are not respectful. On both days inspectors were at the home inappropriate rap and pop music was being played in their bedrooms,” states the report.

Meanwhile, two other homes also owned by Helen and Mumtaz Malik, who work out of a two star hotel in Manchester, have been officially described as inadequate and are the subject of statutory notices to improve.

Inspectors said Carr Green Nursing Home, Rastrick, has 31 residents and needs a lot of redecoration and refurbishment to bring it up to a good standard and the owners need to make significant improvements to make it a safe and comfortable place to live.

The inspectors described the third home, Wellington Court, at Lindley, Huddersfield, as “poorly performing”. The 23 residents at The Haven, in Carr Green Lane, suffer from dementia and pay £475 a week for their care. It was visited by the Commission at least 21 times in the last year in an effort get it improved and a decision notice has now been issued to Mrs Malik, the company secretary, to cancel its registration.

“The home is not being managed properly,” according to the inspectors.

At the last inspection, in May, it was found to be breaching 31 statutory requirements under the Care Standards Act. Mr Malik was unavailable for comment but a spokesman for the commission said an appeal against closure had been lodged with the Care Standards Tribunal.

A Calderdale Council spokesman said they stopped admitting people to the care home two months ago and is awaiting a decision about its future.

“We have been working with the commission and the home to address concerns about the standards of care. We have procedures in place in the event of any care home having to close at short notice and residents needing to be moved – we always ensure that the process is carried out in a caring and sensitive manner.”