A care home has been praised for its performance but has been told it still ‘requires improvement’. 

Rydal Care Home, Darlington, retained the rating after an inspection by the Care Quality Commission (CQC) in March. The nursing home currently cares for 57 people, specialising in providing care to people living with dementia. 

It comes after multiple damning inspections of the service in 2021 and 2022, when the CQC highlighted issues including safety concerns over medicine management, people being moved within the building without consulting relatives, and a lacklustre management style. 

Rydal was also previously put in special measures and investigated after whistleblowers called the watchdog over fears about staffing levels.

The safety of the facility has now improved to be rated ‘good’, after positive responses from residents, alongside being responsive and caring, but still ‘requires improvement’ in its effectiveness and leadership.

However, the CQC said improvements had been made. “The management team had further developed their governance system and this now more effective at identifying issues,” the report added. “The management team had ensured lessons were learnt when things did not work so well.

“The provider completed an action plan after the last inspection to show what they would do and when to improve. At this inspection we found improvements had been made and the provider was no longer in breach of regulations.” 

Staff at Rydal now hope the improvements will lead to an upgraded overall ‘good’ rating at the next inspection. 

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A spokeswoman said: “While the CQC’s report demonstrates improvements have been made in accordance with our action plan, our focus now is on embedding further improvements more quickly.

“The home has retained its ‘good’ rating in relation to being caring and responsive, and the progress we have made since the last inspection is partly reflected in the home’s advancement to a ‘Good’ rating under the criteria for being a safe home.

“The passion and kindness of the home’s staff is reflected in the report and we are pleased that people described feeling safe within the home. Improvements across training and supervision, management and governance, and the building itself are also noted within the report, and we will continue to work hard to embed best practice in relation to record keeping.

“The safety and wellbeing of our residents is our absolute priority. We are determined to push forward our plans with the ambition that when we welcome the CQC back, all areas of inspection will attain at least a ‘good’ rating.”