- Care home
West Wood Care Home
Assessment report published 8 May 2026
Contents
Ratings
Our view of the service
Date of Assessment: 19 November to 16 December 2025.
This service is a residential care home providing support to older and younger people, some of whom may be living with dementia, a physical disability or sensory impairment. The service can support up to 70 people. At the time of the inspection, 30 people were living in the service.
We carried out this inspection because it had not been inspected or rated since its registration in October 2024. We had also received some concerns from people’s representatives, regarding the quality of care their loved ones were receiving.
We identified 4 breaches of the legal regulations concerning person-centred care, safe care and treatment, governance and staffing.
Risks to people’s safety and wellbeing were not always appropriately assessed or planned for. Care plans, risk assessments and daily records contained gaps and errors. These failings put people at an increased risk of harm and inappropriate care.
The provider did not always ensure safe or effective staffing. They allowed staff to work excessively long hours, which placed staff and the people they supported at risk. There were insufficient staff deployed to support and interact with people living on the first floor ‘Memory Unit’, particularly during mealtimes.
The provider did not manage medicines in a safe way. Medicines were not always given on time or as prescribed.
Parts of the environment were not clean and we identified some shortfalls in respect of appropriate facilities and technology.
People did not always receive person-centred care and support and were not always treated with respect. People were not always supported to make informed choices.
The provider’s systems for monitoring and improving the quality of the service were not effectively operated. Audits and checks did not sufficiently identify problems or risks. Where the provider had identified shortfalls, appropriate action was not taken promptly. Records were not always well maintained or accurate.
However, the provider made sure that people could access the care, support and treatment they needed when they needed it. The provider also supported people to plan for important life changes, so they could have enough time to make informed decisions about their future, including at the end of their life.
In instances where CQC has begun a process of regulatory action, we may publish this information on our website after any representations and/or appeals have been concluded, if the action has been taken forward.
We have asked the provider for an action plan in response to the concerns found at this assessment regarding staffing.
This service is being placed in special measures. The purpose of special measures is to ensure that services providing inadequate care make significant improvements. Special measures provide a framework within which we use our enforcement powers in response to inadequate care and provide a timeframe within which providers must improve the quality of the care they provide.’
People's experience of this service
People living in the home and their representatives gave mixed feedback about the service and the quality of the care provided. A lot of people raised concerns in respect of staffing levels, staff turnover, meals and communication.
People made comments such as, “[Name] loves [their] baths and it was agreed at the outset [they] would have 2 baths per week. In practice, [Name] hasn’t had one since [they have] been there.” “There have been times at the weekend when we have found [Name] still in bed at 10am not having had breakfast yet.” “Food could be better and certainly more vegetables are needed. There seem to be huge choices of puddings and there are free pastries, biscuits and cakes for visitors. Perhaps they could concentrate more on the residents’ diet.” and “There were all sorts of promises made about the food before [Name] went to live there, but this soon changed.” This person added that when care staff took people’s food orders, after supporting others with meals in their rooms, they had often run out of some of the food choices.
However, some people made positive comments about the service such as, “Staff do seem to really care and take time to communicate with [Name], even on the days [Name] doesn’t feel like communicating.” and, “There seem to be sufficient activities there if [Name] is interested and I seem to remember carers keeping [Name] informed of what is happening and when, for if [they] wanted to join in.”