- Care home
Walton Lodge
Assessment report published 26 January 2026
Contents
Ratings
Our view of the service
Date of assessment 3 to 17 December 2025. Walton Lodge is a residential care home, providing support to adults, some of whom may be living with a learning disability and/or autism. The service can support up to 20 people, and at the time of our assessment 19 people were living at the service. The inspection was prompted in part by notification of a safeguarding incident. This is subject to further investigation by CQC as to whether any regulatory action should be taken.
We have assessed the service against ‘Right support, right care, right culture’ guidance to make judgements about whether the provider guaranteed people with a learning disability and autistic people respect, equality, dignity, choices, independence and good access to local communities that most people take for granted. We found people received care and support in accordance with the principles of this guidance.
Whilst overarching quality and safety systems were in place, these had not been effective in identifying some concerns. We identified breaches in relation to safety and governance. We have asked the provider for an action plan in response to the concerns found at this assessment.
Governance and auditing within the service although taking place, had failed to identify and address the concerns we found at our site visit. Prior to and following the site visit the provider had undertaken a number of immediate actions to address the concerns and had taken steps to gather feedback from people and strengthen leadership and oversight within the service. These improvements will take time to implement and embed.
Support plans and risk assessments relating to people's health needs were completed but needed more person-centred information to help protect the health and welfare of people who used the service. Further work was underway to ensure support plans contained detailed information to enable people to receive appropriate care and support that was responsive to their needs.
People's medicines were managed safely. People were mostly supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff supported them in the least restrictive way possible and in their best interests; the policies and systems in the service supported this practice. However, staff training and records relating to consent and capacity required improvement.
There were sufficient staff deployed to meet people's needs and wishes. People received person-centred care that promoted people's dignity, privacy and human rights. Staff recognised and responded to changes to individual's needs. We saw staff treated people with kindness and patience and people had access to meaningful activities.
People's experience of this service
People felt they were safe and had confidence in the kind and compassionate care they received. Relatives felt their family members were safe and well looked after. A relative shared,"[Relative] is absolutely safe. [Relative] been there since they were 18, a long journey. I can honestly say, I don’t have any worries. One thing that takes away my worry, [Relative] is in the safest possible hands.’’ Another family member said, "The staff are very attentive. I can see how well [Relative] gets on well with staff. Some of the staff have been there from when they first opened. It’s like family. They’re really good." While the people and relatives we spoke with mostly expressed, they were happy with the service, our assessment found elements of care did not meet the expected standards. During our site visit we saw staff interacting positively with people. People we spoke to told us they were happy and liked the service. One person told us, “I like it here and I have lots of friends. I feel safe and get on with some of the service users more than others. I haven't had any accidents. I take my medication with support, and I know what I am taking. The best thing about living here is my bedroom and the quiet room as it can be quite noisy.” Another person told us, “Staff are good.” People felt they received appropriate support to maintain their independent living skills. People had access to their local community and activities.