A Darlington care home is faced with closure after receiving a rating of ‘inadequate’ from the Care Quality Commission in their latest inspection, after the ombudsman identified a catalogue of deficiencies.

Middleton Lodge, located in Middleton St George, Darlington, provides care for individuals with autism and learning difficulties.

Inspectors from the Care Quality Commission (CQC) had serious concerns about the safety and leadership of the service – and the ombudsman has said that they will “take further action if needed”, even if this leads to the closure of the home.  

Care Home operator Potens said that they "deeply regret" their shortcomings, but are "systematically" working through an action plan. 

Read next: Middleton Lodge care home told it must improve after concerns

Middleton Lodge provides care for a maximum of 10 people at a time, who live on bungalows within the service’s grounds,

Equipment to ensure people received safe and correct care was not always in place, with specific issues identified regarding the safe administration of medication, and stagnant care plans.

Care records were found to be incomplete, meaning staff did “not always have the right information on how to deliver safe care”, and two changes in manager had lowered morale, and made staff feel unsupported.

The inspection report read: “Equipment to ensure people received safe and correct care was not always in place.

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“People did now access the local community much more, but activities to develop life skills and to meet objectives were not always in place. Care records did not always reflect people's preferences People were not always assisted with their medication in a safe and appropriate manner.”

The report added: “Care records including risk assessments were incomplete meaning staff did not always have the correct information on how to deliver safe care. Care was not always person centred, care records did not reflect people's goals and outcomes.

“Staff training and supervision was not up to date, but we saw a plan going forward was in place to address this and staff said they felt supported.”

However the report noted that staffing an recruitment had improved since their previous inspection.

The CQC director concluded: "We will not hesitate to take further action if we don't see significant improvement. Even if this... results in the closure of the home."

A spokesperson fro Potens, the company that runs Middleton Lodge, said: "We deeply regret the rating and shortcomings identified in this inspection and want to re-assure people that the statement from CQC about the 'improving culture with a new manager now in place, who understood the issues the service faced and was now tackling a number of those challenges' continues and remains our priority.

"A comprehensive action plan is in place and is systematically being worked through, the management team remain entirely committed to returning Middleton Lodge to its Good rating."

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Middleton Lodge was previously inspected in January 2023, when it was found to be breaching six regulations, and given a rating of “requires improvement”.

A further breach of three more regulations when the CQC reinspected the care home in July 2023 has pushed the Darlington care home into the “inadequate” bracket.

The service has been threatened with closure before, 12 years ago, when the CQC documented a catalogue of failings, including “appalling” hygiene that saw residents living with broken furniture and dirty kitchens.