SafeAre people protected from abuse and avoidable harm?75%Good
See the breakdownHide the breakdownAll 8 good
Infection prevention and controlGood
Involving people to manage risksGood
Learning cultureGood
Medicines optimisationGood
Safe and effective staffingGood
Safe environmentsGood
Safe systems, pathways and transitionsGood
SafeguardingGood
EffectiveDoes care achieve good outcomes and a good quality of life?75%Good
See the breakdownHide the breakdownAll 6 good
Assessing needsGood
Consent to care and treatmentGood
Delivering evidence-based care and treatmentGood
How staff, teams and services work togetherGood
Monitoring and improving outcomesGood
Supporting people to live healthier livesGood
CaringAre staff kind, compassionate and respectful?75%Good
See the breakdownHide the breakdownAll 5 good
Independence, choice and controlGood
Kindness, compassion and dignityGood
Responding to people's immediate needsGood
Treating people as individualsGood
Workforce wellbeing and enablementGood
ResponsiveAre services organised to meet people's needs?75%Good
See the breakdownHide the breakdownAll 7 good
Care provision, integration and continuityGood
Equity in accessGood
Equity in experiences and outcomesGood
Listening to and involving peopleGood
Person-centred careGood
Planning for the futureGood
Providing InformationGood
Well-ledIs the home well managed, with a culture of high-quality care?75%Good
See the breakdownHide the breakdownAll 7 good
Capable, compassionate and inclusive leadersGood
Freedom to speak upGood
Governance, management and sustainabilityGood
Learning, improvement and innovationGood
Partnerships and communitiesGood
Shared direction and cultureGood
Workforce equality, diversity and inclusionGood
Percentages are CQC scores from its newer way of assessing homes. ?
CQC scored 33 standards: 33 good. Use “See the breakdown” on each key question for its standards. ?
CQC hasn't inspected this home for more than 5 years. It re-inspects based on risk, so an old rating doesn't count against a home on this site, but it may not reflect the home today. ?
Middleton Lodge is one of 30 care homes in Darlington: a 10-bed residential care home in Darlington, run by Potensial Limited. Its CQC registration covers people with a learning disability or autism and people with mental health needs. That is smaller than most homes in Darlington, where the typical home has 40 beds.
Across Darlington, 86% of rated homes are Good or Outstanding, against 82% for England. The kitchen has a food hygiene rating of 5 (very good), from August 2025. 92% of homes in Darlington also score 5. Potensial Limited runs 23 care homes, and 22 of the 23 rated are Good or Outstanding. Of the 6 closest rated homes, none is rated above it.
CQC rated it Good overall and in all five key questions in August 2024. Before that, in October 2023, it was rated Inadequate. The typical rating in Darlington is about 4 years old, so this one is fairly recent. CQC scored 33 standards, and every one was good.
