Nottingham: Woodvale care scheme placed in special measures

Woodvale provides personal care to people living in their own flats and bungalows

A housing care scheme has been rated inadequate and placed in special measures.

Woodvale, in Nottingham, was given the rating following an inspection carried out by the Care Quality Commission (CQC) in April.

Inspectors said people were not getting appropriate levels of care and were worried about annoying the staff.

The housing trust that runs the scheme said the failings demanded urgent attention.

The CQC report described Woodvale as a specialist extra care housing scheme, providing personal care to people living in their own flats and bungalows.

It said the overall rating had gone down from good to inadequate, adding the scheme would be kept under review and re-inspected within six months.

'Safeguarding issues'

Greg Rielly, CQC deputy director of operations in the Midlands, said: "When we inspected Woodvale, it was concerning the level of care had deteriorated significantly.

"People told us they didn't always have positive interactions with staff during their care visits. Some said they felt they were annoying staff, they got rushed to do tasks and weren't being listened to if they got upset.

"Care plans were poor and weren't updated to support people or protect them from further harm.

"We saw plans that hadn't been updated following a person who was at risk of falls.

"We saw similar concerns with safeguarding issues which weren't always being reported properly.

"In addition, our inspectors saw that the way medications were issued wasn't safe."

He added inspectors had also seen some positive areas of care, including a wellbeing coordinator who arranged social events and community raffles.

"We will continue to monitor the service closely to ensure significant improvements are made," he added.

"If we are not assured people are receiving safe care, we will not hesitate to take enforcement action to ensure people are receiving the high standard of care they deserve."

A spokesperson for Metropolitan Thames Valley Housing (MTVH), which runs the scheme, said: "We are very concerned by the CQC's findings and know the report will make troubling reading for residents and their families.

"The serious failings found by the CQC demand our urgent attention.

"We accept the report's findings in full and have completed an immediate review of the service to ensure there is no risk to resident safety.

"We have also swiftly established a comprehensive action plan to address all areas identified in the report."