Ashlar House Care Home

My Dad received awful care at Ashlar House. He paid £1250 a week & the home was constantly understaffed. I daily found my Dad in a wet or dirty bed & had to ask for him to be cleaned & would sometimes wait for up to an hour for a carer to come. Once a carer said she had no time to wash him, so she put aftershave on him so he didn’t smell of urine! He was constantly disrespected by staff. They would not explain they needed to wash or undress him so he often became very distressed. Visitors were just allowed in without being asked who they were & found my Dad in some terrible states, so my Dad lost all his dignity. My Dads glasses, teeth, & wheelchair constantly went missing & nobody bothered to look for them. Finally, a carer lost his temper & raised a fist at my Dad & Ashlar house didn’t inform until a week after as they ‘forgot!’ They had to tell me eventually as the career was reported to head office. Their solution was to move him to the Waltham Abbey home so god help anyone there!

My Mother was in the home for around a year. When she was at the home i felt that she was treated very well by all the staff. The home was also very nice and clean.

Only suitable for certain types of resident We chose this home due to its good reputation. My relative is a quiet person who does not like a lot of noise and activity going on around them. This home turned out to be totally unsuitable for them for the following reasons: the bedroom was tiny without enough room even for a chair so it was not possible for my relative to spend time in there if they wanted to; although there are some courtyards there is no garden to sit in during the summer; residents have to spend their days in communal areas where a number of residents are constantly on the move interfering with other residents and generally being in your face. I witnessed fighting and lots of shouting and swearing. Obviously this kind of behaviour can be expected from people with Alzheimer's but the problem was that there was nowhere to go to get away from it. Having said this the staff were good, as was the food. It is no doubt suitable for some people but it needs to be carefully looked at to ensure that it meets your specific needs.