Three days into his inquest and almost two years on from his death, housing association bosses now admit they should have been 'more proactive' about damp and mould at Awaab Ishak's home. The bombshell announcement came this afternoon (November 8), as Rochdale Boroughwide Housing (RBH) informed coroner Joanne Kearsley it had taken on board comments made earlier in the inquest.
The housing association owns and manages the Freehold estate in Rochdale, which includes the Ilminster block, where Awaab had lived throughout his short life. He died aged just two on December 21, 2020, after suffering respiratory problems that led to cardiac arrest on his way from Rochdale Urgent Care Centre to Royal Oldham Hospital.
Home Office pathologist Dr Philip Lumb told the court yesterday that mould was the 'most plausible, or only explanation' for Awaab's fatal breathing conditions. Today, in front of Awaab's father Faisal Abdullah and before any of its representatives had given evidence under oath in court, RBH accepted its approach to damp and mould at his home had been 'inappropriate'.
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The admissions were provided in a statement submitted by RBH's barrister Malcolm Galloway and signed by Nadhia Khan, the housing association's director of customer and community. It says RBH received a letter from a health visitor on July 9, 2020, supporting a request for the family to move home due to mould at the property.
A letter followed from Anthony Hodari solicitors three days later, for a disrepair claim on behalf of Mr Abdullah, which prompted RBH to carry out a disrepair report on July 14, 2020. Today's admission from RBH continues: "The findings of the report concluded that the majority of the mould was caused by ‘lifestyle and bathing habits’.
"Having considered the evidence of Richard Blakeway (Housing Ombudsman), Professor Malcolm Richardson (Expert) and in conjunction with the report of [building surveyor] Daniel McVey, RBH accept that its approach was inappropriate and it should have taken responsibility for the mould issues and undertaken a more proactive response." The inquest is yet to hear evidence on the findings of the July 14 report, while Mr McVey is due to give evidence later during the proceedings.
However, when asked last Friday by barrister Christian Weaver in anticipation of evidence about the July 14 report, Mr Abdullah told the court his family took showers. Asked if it was in the family's culture to bathe by 'pouring water over your head', Mr Abdullah said 'no'.
Today's RBH statement goes on to say the housing association had a policy not to undertake remedial works following a disrepair claim being made, unless it had agreement from the claimant's solicitor. But in a new admission, RBH admits it had 'no legal requirement' to wait for that and could still have carried out repairs.
"It is accepted that RBH should have undertaken remedial works having found the mould in its inspection of the property on July 14, 2020," the statement reads. It continues: "It is accepted that no remedial works were undertaken by RBH after July 14, 2020, and before Awaab’s death on December 21, 2020.
"It is accepted that various RBH teams were contacted and received further notifications about the mould from Awaab’s family during this time." The shock admissions follow comments made last Friday by Richard Blakeway, England's housing ombudsman, and yesterday from mould expert Prof Malcolm Richardson - who found several species of fungus during tests carried out at the property at the request of Greater Manchester Police following Awaab's death.
Both spoke of the need for social landlords to be proactive about tackling damp and mould, rather than blaming tenants. Prof Richardson told the court: "Most of these problems are due to a lack of attention to defects. Landlords have a duty of care to provide a habitable property - that's not always the case."
'I felt like we had time'
The inquest heard from two health visitors who visited Awaab's home during his short life. Lyndsey Ryan, who worked with the family until August 2019, described Awaab as a 'happy, smiley baby' who lived in a home that was 'warm and welcoming'.
She told the court she never heard any concerns about damp and mould at the property during that time. Caroline Ridley, who made four visits to the home after Ms Ryan, said Awaab had made 'good' development and while he had suffered 'several colds', this was 'not unusual for young babies'.
But in July 2020, Ms Ridley was told about the damp and mould for the first time, being shown the bathroom and kitchen by Mr Abdullah. She said: There was quite a significant amount of mould.
"I'm not a mould expert but I think it would have taken a long time to get to that extent." Mr Abdullah believed the mould was affecting his son's health, and Ms Ridley wrote a letter to housing officers in support of the family's application to be rehomed.
Ms Ridley said she had not received a response to the original letter, and on November 18, 2020, Mr Abdullah asked her to resend it. The court heard that Awaab had seen GPs with cold-like symptoms on several occasions during his life.
He was first seen in February 2019 with a respiratory tract infection, before presenting with symptoms in May, June and August. Awaab had a bout of tonsillitis, before seeing medics in each month from November 2019 to March 2020, being diagnosed with viral respiratory infections in February and March.
In the final month of Awaab's life, his family was in frequent contact with their GP practice Ashworth Street Surgery over his health. He had been suffering with a cough on December 8 and a follow-up call was made by the practice two days later.
On December 16, in the final contact made with the practice before his death, Awaab's family reported he had been suffering with a sore throat for three weeks and he was prescribed antibiotics. Dr Kevin Cody, GP at Ashworth Street Surgery, told the court that Awaab was 'seen more than most children' for coughs and cold symptoms - but he was never diagnosed with asthma.
He told coroner Ms Kearsley the practice was now 'more aware' of issues regarding damp and mould affecting health than before Awaab's death. "After this case we do have more patients within the local area that have come since with property problems," he said.
"We do try to get involved as much as we can with letters to housing associations, but it seems to be more evident." Midwives who saw Awaab's mum while she was pregnant with her second child told the court they tried to get help for the family's damp and mould issues in the months before his death.
Both community midwife Kelly Reaynor and hospital midwife Tracey Harris were told by Aisha Amin that she believed damp and mould was making Awaab 'poorly'. Ms Amin told Ms Reaynor at Deeplish Children's Centre on September 2, 2020, which led to the midwife being concerned for the safety of Awaab's mum and her unborn child, and she referred the case to Rochdale Council's Early Help team.
On October 6, 2020, Ms Amin told Ms Harris she believed the 'council was ignoring her pleas' about damp and mould - while health visitors had 'stopped attending due to Covid'. Ms Harris told Ms Reaynor by email, who then made a second contact to Early Help, before Ms Harris called them the following day.
Ms Reaynor, who also submitted a 'special circumstances' form she believed was available to social services, said: "I truly believed that I referred to the appropriate organisation, which was Early Help." However, Ms Harris told Ms Kearsley she would do things differently if faced with the same situation.
"I think at that moment in time when I saw Aisha, I felt like we had time," said Ms Harris. Probably with the benefit of hindsight, getting a GP involved and speaking with a health visitor would be the way forward, but you feel you have time to investigate things further." Proceeding.
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