Watchdog tells care service to improve

The inspections led by the Care Quality Commission gave the "requires improvement" rating to Dimensions in Maurice Lee Avenue, Telford, and found the service was "not consistently safe".

Following December inspections, its Doseley Road site was branded "good" along with Much Wenlock Medical Practice and the English Care Limited-run Lady Forester Community Nursing Home in Much Wenlock.

Inspectors carried out checks at Maurice Lee Avenue on October 13 and found that staff at the service – which provides accommodation and personal care for six people with a learning disability who live in two separate houses – raised concerns about safety.

The new style of checks gives services a rating for each of five areas asking is the service safe, effective, caring, responsive and well-led. The Dimensions service was given "requires improvement" for safety and for whether the service was well-led, but "good" for all other areas.

One concern raised by staff was that the "registered manager did not maintain a regular presence in the home" and that there was sometimes difficulty contacting them.

But inspectors praised staff for their ability to treat each person in accommodation as an individual, and said that "needs were responded to promptly throughout the day".

They also praised the caring nature of the service. The report said: "We saw people looked well dressed and well cared for. Staff were respectful of people's privacy and maintained their dignity when supporting people. Staff knocked and waited before they entered people's rooms."

The Dimensions-run site in Doseley Road – which accommodates five people with learning disabilities – was branded "good" in all five areas. Its report said: "Staff knew how to protect people against the risk of abuse or harm and how to report concerns they may have.

"People were treated with dignity and were offered choices in a way they could understand."

Meanwhile, Lady Forester Community Nursing Home, in Farley Road, Much Wenlock, was given "good" in all areas, except for its ability to be responsive where it was told it "requires improvement".

The report said: "The service was mostly responsive. Staff had an understanding of how to respond to people's changing needs. There was a programme of afternoon activities in place.

"Some people did not have any occupation at other times of the day or when they were confined to bed."

Much Wenlock Medical Practice was given "good" in all its areas of inspection and the watchdog praised the centre saying "all opportunities for learning from internal and external incidents were maximised".