Controversial care home in Mansfield gets go-ahead for reopening plans

All 16 residents were moved out and into alternative accommodation after Ashdale Care Home at The Park, off Park Avenue, was slapped with a rating of ‘Inadequate’ by the Care Quality Commission (CQC) in September 2023.

The home, which used to be run by the Derby-based company, Isys Care Ltd, was also placed in special measures, with the CQC saying the residents were at “serious risk” of illness or danger.

When inspectors returned six months later, they found no significant improvements or action plan, forcing them to threaten enforcement proceedings to prevent Isys operating the service.

Ashdale remained empty throughout last year. However, a new owner in the London-based company, Hestia Care Group Ltd, bought the building with the intention of refurbishing it before reopening the care home.

And now a planning application by Hestia for an extension at the home to include a dining room and activity room has been given conditional permission by Mansfield District Council.

Most of the conditions are routine, but others include the need to protect trees in the vicinity, which is a conservation area, and to provide measures to enhance the lives of birds and bats.

The application was accompanied by a planning statement, which said the extension will be part of improvement work “recommended by the CQC in order to gain CQC compliance”.

The work will also include a platform lift between the kitchen and the dining room, as well as access to the home’s courtyard.

"Reopening the building with improved and additional facilities will provide the local area with a better care home than it had previously,” the statement concludes.

Ashdale used to provide care for up to 22 adults aged 65 and over, including some with physical disabilities.

Among the failings uncovered by the CQC were a faulty fire alarm, an ineffective heating system and poor water-maintenance, leaving residents at risk of catching Legionnaires’ disease.

Staff were not adequately recruited or trained, and Isys was not even able to provide a clear list of the names of employees.

Nottinghamshire County Council was so alarmed that it cancelled its contract with Ashdale because Isys had “failed in its duty to uphold safe standards of care”.