BOSSES of a disability charity which was strongly criticised by the industry watchdog and put in special measures will field questions from the public tomorrow.

Bradnet, which provides home care for people with learning and physical disabilities, was found to be inadequate by the Care Quality Commission (CQC) at the end of December.

It was told it must make significant improvements within six months or face further action.

The charity said it had since put new procedures in place as part of a strict action plan and was confident improvements were starting to be made.

Bradnet is recruiting higher calibre front line staff, overhauling organisation processes, getting service users involved in service design and developing closer relationships with professional partners.

A charity spokesman said the plans was now in its second phase.

"Things are going well. We are having a few challenges still, but there are always challenges in the care sector," he added.

"We are in close contact the Care Quality Commission and Bradford Council too."

He added that the introduction of a Bradnet uniform for carers, rather than a dress code, had received a very favourable response from service users.

At tomorrow night's annual meeting - the charity's 20th - there will be a presentation from a personal assistant at the organisation and public question and answer session,

The spokesman said the charity had received some questions and the CQC's findings was among those.

Prior to the CQC inspection Bradnet voluntarily took steps to give back contracts which were straying into specialist nursing care, rather than personal care only, and also stopped taking new referrals from Bradford Council.

Following the publication of the report, the local authority confirmed it had stopped recommending Bradnet and would continue to do so until the CQC was able to confirm "an acceptable improvement in the quality of services".

Criticisms in the report, which ruled that Bradnet was failing in several key areas, included service users complaining that staff had not treated them with respect and were rude, and that there was a lack of continuity of staff.

Some users complained staff were often on their mobile phones rather than interacting with those they were providing care for.

The report said: "When we spoke with people during the inspection we found a high level of dissatisfaction with the service.

"For example, out of the 16 people or relatives we spoke with who received personal care, 15 people raised concerns about some aspects of the service and 12 expressed major dissatisfaction with the service."

The annual meeting will take place at Carlisle Business Centre, Carlisle Road in Bradford on Wednesday, February 17, from 6pm.

Anyone interesting in attending or submitting questions for the board should contact Bradnet on 01274 224444 or e-mail enquiries@bradnet.org.uk.