SafeAre people protected from abuse and avoidable harm?44%Requires improvement
See the breakdownHide the breakdown7 of 8 below good
Infection prevention and controlSignificant shortfalls
Involving people to manage risksSignificant shortfalls
Medicines optimisationSignificant shortfalls
Learning cultureSome shortfalls
Safe and effective staffingSome shortfalls
Safe environmentsSome shortfalls
Safe systems, pathways and transitionsSome shortfalls
SafeguardingGood
EffectiveDoes care achieve good outcomes and a good quality of life?50%Requires improvement
See the breakdownHide the breakdown6 of 6 below good
Assessing needsSome shortfalls
Consent to care and treatmentSome shortfalls
Delivering evidence-based care and treatmentSome shortfalls
How staff, teams and services work togetherSome shortfalls
Monitoring and improving outcomesSome shortfalls
Supporting people to live healthier livesSome shortfalls
CaringAre staff kind, compassionate and respectful?50%Requires improvement
See the breakdownHide the breakdown5 of 5 below good
Independence, choice and controlSome shortfalls
Kindness, compassion and dignitySome shortfalls
Responding to people's immediate needsSome shortfalls
Treating people as individualsSome shortfalls
Workforce wellbeing and enablementSome shortfalls
ResponsiveAre services organised to meet people's needs?61%Requires improvement
See the breakdownHide the breakdown4 of 7 below good
Care provision, integration and continuitySome shortfalls
Equity in experiences and outcomesSome shortfalls
Listening to and involving peopleSome shortfalls
Person-centred careSome shortfalls
Equity in accessGood
Planning for the futureGood
Providing InformationGood
Well-ledIs the home well managed, with a culture of high-quality care?36%Inadequate
See the breakdownHide the breakdown6 of 7 below good
Capable, compassionate and inclusive leadersSignificant shortfalls
Freedom to speak upSignificant shortfalls
Governance, management and sustainabilitySignificant shortfalls
Learning, improvement and innovationSignificant shortfalls
Shared direction and cultureSignificant shortfalls
Partnerships and communitiesSome shortfalls
Workforce equality, diversity and inclusionGood
Percentages are CQC scores from its newer way of assessing homes. ?
CQC scored 33 standards: 5 good, 28 below 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 Manor Care Centre is in the Requires improvement tier ?, with 3 other homes in Darlington.
86% of rated homes here are Good or Outstanding (England: 82%).
Middleton Manor Care Centre is a 83-bed nursing home in Darlington, run by Prestige Care (Middleton) Limited. CQC registers it to look after older people, people with dementia, younger adults, people with a physical disability, people with mental health needs and people with a sensory impairment. Most homes in Darlington are smaller: the median there is 40 beds.
Prestige Care (Middleton) Limited has run the home since June 2025, when it changed owner. The nearest home with a higher rating is Middleton Hall Retirement Village (Good), 1.0 km away. In Darlington, 86% of rated care homes are Good or Outstanding (England 82%). The kitchen has a food hygiene rating of 4 (good), from February 2026. In Darlington, 92% of homes score 5.
The current CQC rating is Requires improvement, published in June 2026. Safe, effective, caring and responsive were also Requires improvement. For well-led, the rating was Inadequate. Before that, in November 2022, it was rated Good. The typical rating in Darlington is about 4 years old, so this one is fairly recent. CQC found significant shortfalls in “infection prevention and control”, one of 28 standards out of 33 scored below good.
