- Care home
The Lodge
We served a warning notice on Action for care on 8 April 2026 for failing to meet the regulations related to safeguarding at The Lodge.
Assessment report published 30 April 2026
Contents
Ratings
Our view of the service
Assessment date: 17 March to 31 March 2026. Site visits were undertaken on 17 and 18 March 2026.
The Lodge is a care home providing accommodation for persons who require nursing or personal care for a maximum of 8adults who may have a learning disabilities or autistic spectrum disorder, and younger adults. At the time of the assessment there were 8 people receiving care and support. We carried out this assessment under Section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (the Act) as part of our regulatory functions. We checked whether the provider was meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Act.
We carried out the assessment following concerns which were raised about people’s safety. At the previous assessment the provider was rated good. However, after this assessment the overall rating has changed to requires improvement. The service was in breach of legal requirements relating to good governance, safeguarding, person-centred care, and staffing.
We assessed the service against the principles of right support, right care, right culture. This framework helps us determine whether people with a learning disability and autistic people are supported in a way that maximises choice, control, dignity, independence, and access to their local community. The provider could not demonstrate how they were meeting these principles in practice.
The provider was in breach of the legal regulation relating to Safeguarding. People were not adequately protected from the risk of abuse. staff had not always received the training necessary to support people safely.. In addition, people were subject to physical interventions, and accidents and incidents had not been consistently reviewed to identify patterns, learning or preventative actions. We found a lack of evidence of a process in place to monitor, review, or reduce the use of restraint for those living at The Lodge.
The provider was in breach of the legal regulation relating to person-centred care. Whilst care plans reflected people’s needs and preferences for how they wished their care and support to be delivered, they did not include people’s goals, aspirations and longer-term plans.
The provider was in breach of the legal regulation relating to staffing. Staff were supporting people and did not have the appropriate training completed.
The provider was in breach of the legal regulation relating to Good Governance. The governance, management structure and auditing processes were not sufficiently robust to identify areas for improvement and learn lessons when things went wrong.
The environment was clean, welcoming, and people appeared comfortable. We also observed positive and caring interactions between staff and people. Staff treated people as individuals, offered meaningful choices, and promoted independence.
In instances where CQC has begun a process of regulatory action, we may publish this information on our website after any representations and/or appeals have been concluded, if the action has been taken forward.
People's experience of this service
We observed the interactions and communication between people and staff throughout our visits. We spoke to people’s relatives, and we used the short observational framework for inspection (SOFI). SOFI is a way of observing care to help us understand the experience of people who could not talk with us.
Our observations reflected what people and relatives told us. People were relaxed in the home, approached staff freely and appeared comfortable making choices about their day. Staff interactions were warm, respectful, and centred around what mattered to each person. People were supported to do the things they enjoyed.
The feedback we received from people’s relatives was positive. Relatives told us, “[Person’s name] has blossomed in the time they’ve been there” and “The staff are amazingly kind.”