- Care home
Woodlands Care Home
Assessment report published 5 June 2025
Contents
Ratings
Our view of the service
Woodlands Care Home is a care home without nursing for older people. People in care homes receive accommodation and nursing or personal care as a single package under one contractual agreement. CQC regulates both the premises, and the care provided, and both were looked at during this assessment.
The last rating for this service was good (published 23 July 2019). This assessment was conducted based on the length of time since the last rating. The new rating for this service is inadequate.
In instances where CQC has decided to take civil or criminal enforcement action against a provider, we will publish this information on our website after any representations and/or appeals have been concluded. 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.
Woodlands Care Home is registered for up to 19 people. However, during our assessment we identified serious concerns and took urgent action which included restricting the number of people who could live at the service to 9. The provider will need to make an application to remove this condition before they accommodate more than 9 people.
The assessment started on 27 March 2025 and ended on 11 April 2025. We carried out unannounced site visits to the service on 27 March, 3 and 8 April 2025.
We identified serious concerns relating to safe care and treatment, staffing and good governance. Because of the seriousness of our concerns, we have imposed conditions on the provider’s registration. The provider sent evidence that immediate risks to people’s safety had been mitigated. However, we continued to be concerned that governance systems had failed to identify these issues as the provider lacked insight of the significant risk of harm their actions posed to people using the service. We identified other concerns which needed further action. The provider was in breach of legal regulations relating to dignity and respect, safe care and treatment, safeguarding people from abuse and improper treatment, good governance and staffing.
The provider had not always assessed or planned for the risks relating to people’s care and wellbeing. The systems for managing medicines were not always robust. There were not always enough staff deployed to keep people safe or meet their needs. There were risks within the environment, including fire safety risks. The provider had not always protected people from abuse and improper treatment.
The provider did not always ensure people were given informed choices for them to consent to care. People’s care needs had been assessed. However, records relating to these were not personalised and did not always give enough information about how needs should be met.
The provider did not always ensure people’s privacy dignity or human rights were respected. Some of the practices at the service needed to be improved to ensure people’s best interests were being considered and met.
The registered manager and provider did not always understand or meet their legal responsibilities. The systems for monitoring and improving quality were not effectively implemented and risks were not always monitored or mitigated.
The provider had systems to help them learn from things that had gone wrong. They responded to the concerns we identified and took action to help reduce immediate risks.
Staff knew people well and worked with each other and external healthcare professionals to provide care and treatment. People’s needs were monitored so that care could be adjusted. There was a range of activities and entertainment designed to engage people and promote skills and independence.
The provider had systems for recruiting staff to make sure they were suitable. Staff undertook training and had information to help them understand their roles and responsibilities. Staff felt well supported and happy working at the service.
People's experience of this service
People using the service and their relatives were happy with the care they received. They had good relationships with staff and the management team. We observed that people were offered choices about what they ate and how they spent their time. People looked relaxed. People were dressed appropriately in clean clothes and appropriate footwear. Staff were kind and friendly with people. Visitors were welcome. They told us they felt included and well informed.
While the people we spoke to expressed that they were generally happy with their care, our assessment found elements of the service did not meet the expected standards.