- Residential substance misuse service
Primrose Lodge
We served a warning notice on Blue Skies Addiction Centre Ltd on 28 August 2026 for failing to ensure that the care and treatment of service-users who used the service received safe care and treatment in accordance with national guidance. The service had also not ensured that they had a robust admission criterion in place to identify which service-users were too high risk to be safely admitted to Primrose Lodge. We identified that some service-users had been admitted to the service despite having complex needs that the service could not safely meet.
Assessment report published 2 February 2026
Contents
Ratings
Our view of the service
An inspection of Primrose Lodge took place on 10 and 11 September 2025 using our Single Assessment Framework. We undertook this inspection following information of concern we had received and decided to assess if the service was safe, effective, caring, responsive and well led.
Primrose Lodge is an 18-bed mixed gender facility providing medically monitored residential detoxification and psychosocial group work treatment for clients with a primary addiction to drugs or alcohol. All clients are funded privately and self-refer. At the time of inspection there were 13 clients receiving treatment at the service.
Primrose Lodge is operated by Blue Skies Addiction Centre Ltd, part of the UK Addiction Treatment Services (UKAT) network. Primrose Lodge was registered with CQC in February 2017 to deliver the regulated activities: Accommodation for persons who require treatment for substance misuse and Treatment of disease, disorder or injury. The service had a Registered Manager.
Primrose Lodge was last inspected in 2019 and rated good overall and in all 5 domains.
At this assessment we identified a breach of regulation 12 Safe Care and Treatment. At times the service had accepted clients into treatment that were too high risk for them to be safely managed in a medically monitored rehabilitation service that had no doctors or clinicians on site. Decisions to prescribe detoxification medicines were made without sufficient supporting information about the client’s medical history and the safety of proceeding with detoxification. We have asked the provider for an action plan in response to the concerns found at this assessment.
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.