I have red ground cover rose as well.
They definitely need to be pruned.
I do mine as late as possible in the fall, and take them down to just above the thickest wood at the base.

I just leave mine to get on with it. Look up the "flower carpet" series, they're an American bred rose that withstands drought and are fairly disease free. I have flowercarpet red and it's delightful.

And remember that they are a s.... to weed amongst so make sure the soil is really clean before planting.

Thanks for the reply's. The question seems to be "To prune or not to prune". I will look up Flower Carpet, as Badfish say's and see what is said there.

I really like the look of these roses and think they are very under rated. Has anyone else on GoY planted them, if so can we have some pic's.

I did have one, but got rid of it as it was so very difficult to weed around. I used to prune it back each year, but only put up with it for about 3 years. There are so many other plants which look great and don't shred your hands every time you need to weed!

Exactly!!!!!!!!!