- Care home
Barons Lodge Sutton Also known as formerly Astral Lodge
Assessment report published 8 September 2026
Contents
Ratings
Our view of the service
About the service
Barons Lodge Sutton is a 17 bedded care home with nursing. There were 17 people using the service at the time of our assessment.
Who the service is for
Barons Lodge Sutton supports people with mental health needs, those with physical disabilities and people living with dementia.
Key findings
We carried out this assessment on 17 August 2026. This service was previously rated as good. We carried out this assessment to confirm whether the rating of good remains accurate. This report does not provide detailed information on areas where we found practice continues to meet a good standard. Instead, our findings focus on any areas where the service needs to improve or where we found exceptional practice.
People continued to receive safe care that met their individual needs. Staff were aware of their responsibility to safeguard people from avoidable harm and how to report any concerns to the local authority safeguarding adult’s team. Incidents and accidents were reviewed and learnt from. Assessments were undertaken to identify any risks to people’s safety and management plans were in place to support people to minimise and manage those risks. Staff adhered to safe medicines management procedures.
On the whole a safe environment was provided, however, we saw some minor improvements were required. One window had a cracked pane and we saw a couple of emergency pull cords tied up. However, the registered manager gave us assurances they had requested the window pane to be replaced and reminded staff of the importance of ensuring emergency pull cords were always accessible.
Staff understood and adhered to the Mental Capacity Act 2005. They involved people in their care decisions, and where people did not have the capacity to consent to elements of their care, staff consulted people who had the legal authorisation to make decisions on a person’s behalf. People can only be deprived of their liberty to receive care and treatment with appropriate legal authority. In care homes, this can be done through a procedure called the Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DoLS), which is part of the Mental Capacity Act 2005 (MCA). We checked whether the service was working within the principles of the MCA and how they managed DoLS within the service. We found that staff and management worked within the MCA. DoLS authorisations were appropriately applied for and overseen. People were not subject to unlawful or excessive restrictions they had choice, control and freedom over their lives.
Staff understood people’s care needs and care plans were in place to instruct staff how to support people. This included support related to their individual needs, and any support required in relation to their protected characteristics as defined by the Equality Act 2010. Systems were in place to obtain people’s feedback about their care and give them opportunities to raise any concerns or questions. A complaints process was in place to ensure any concerns raised were listened to and learnt from.
Staff worked with people to achieve positive outcomes. This included a successful smoking cessation programme with a number of people living at the service. They also had good partnership working with community health professionals to help ensure people’s health needs were met, this included requesting a medicines review from the GP to support a person to minimise some side effects they were experiencing from their medicines.
An experienced management team was in place. The registered manager was accessible and provided hands on support to people who used the service. Staff felt well supported in their role, with good access to training, supervision and appraisal processes. A programme of audits and checks were in place to ensure adequate oversight of the service and ensure safe, effective care was provided.
People's experience of this service
We spoke with 4 people and 1 relative about their experiences of care. We also observed interactions between people and staff and undertook a SOFI. SOFI is a structured observational framework for inspections.
People were happy living at the service and told us the staff were kind and caring. A person said, “People look after me very well here. Everybody is very kind here.” They appreciated the support the staff provided and how this was delivered. We observed staff interacting with people in a friendly and respectful manner. People freely moved around the service and knew the staff supporting them. The registered manager was visible and people felt comfortable speaking openly with them. A person told us, “It’s comforting having the staff here who will speak with me.”
However, we did hear that some people felt they did not have enough choice and control over how they spent their time. They said they would like more activities delivered at the service and opportunities to access the local community. The registered manager told us and showed us photos of events and activities that had been delivered but told us they would speak with people to gather further information about what they would like to have available at the service.