Shropshire Star

Monitoring follows targeted inspection carried out at Telford care home

Health inspectors are continuing to monitor a Shropshire care home after carrying out a ‘targeted inspection’.

Published
Woodcote Hall care home near Newport. Picture: Google Maps

Woodcote Hall, on the outskirts of Newport, was found to ‘require improvement’ during an inspection by the Care Quality Commission in August last year.

A following targeted inspection in October found that improvements had been made and the provider was ‘no longer in breach of regulations’.

A further targeted inspection was carried out in March over six days to ‘check on a concern we had about staffing and recruitment’.

“The manager told us they had only been in post for six weeks and showed us actions were already in place to address the gaps in recruitment files and ensure their consistency,” inspectors found.

A report put together by inspectors stated that the new manager ‘had identified some gaps in induction records’.

“Staff told us there were a sufficient number of staff to meet people’s needs safely but more time was needed to complete paperwork,” the report added.

“We discussed this with the manager who told us they were currently recruiting for a deputy manager and were in the process of changing to an electronic records system which they hoped would address this.”

Woodcote Hall is in the village of Woodcote, near Chetwynd Aston, and provides residential care for up to 56 people.

The service provides support to older people, some of whom are living with dementia, in one adapted building. At the time of the inspection there were 36 people using the service.

Inspectors found that people were supported by a sufficient number of staff to meet their needs safely.

“One person told us: ‘There are quite a lot of staff here, they cope well, we never go without anything.’ Another person told us: ‘They always do what I need but they work hard,” the inspection found.

The report concluded: “Based on our inspection, we found people were supported by a sufficient number of staff to meet their needs safely but senior staff did not always have sufficient time to complete documentation.

“Historical inductions had not always been completed thoroughly but the manager had identified this and had redone them to ensure staff were competent to meet people’s needs safely.

“We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service, which will help inform when we next inspect.”