Requires improvementSafe: Requires improvementEffective: GoodCaring: GoodResponsive: GoodWell-led: Requires improvementRated 1 year ago↓ Down from Good
SafeAre people protected from abuse and avoidable harm?56%Requires improvement
See the breakdownHide the breakdown5 of 8 below good
Medicines optimisationSignificant shortfalls
Involving people to manage risksSome shortfalls
Learning cultureSome shortfalls
Safe and effective staffingSome shortfalls
Safe environmentsSome shortfalls
Infection prevention and controlGood
Safe systems, pathways and transitionsGood
SafeguardingGood
EffectiveDoes care achieve good outcomes and a good quality of life?62%Good
See the breakdownHide the breakdown3 of 6 below good
Delivering evidence-based care and treatmentSome shortfalls
How staff, teams and services work togetherSome shortfalls
Monitoring and improving outcomesSome shortfalls
Assessing needsGood
Consent to care and treatmentGood
Supporting people to live healthier livesGood
CaringAre staff kind, compassionate and respectful?65%Good
See the breakdownHide the breakdown2 of 5 below good
Independence, choice and controlSome shortfalls
Workforce wellbeing and enablementSome shortfalls
Kindness, compassion and dignityGood
Responding to people's immediate needsGood
Treating people as individualsGood
ResponsiveAre services organised to meet people's needs?68%Good
See the breakdownHide the breakdown2 of 7 below good
Equity in experiences and outcomesSome shortfalls
Person-centred careSome shortfalls
Care provision, integration and continuityGood
Equity in accessGood
Listening to and involving peopleGood
Planning for the futureGood
Providing InformationGood
Well-ledIs the home well managed, with a culture of high-quality care?54%Requires improvement
See the breakdownHide the breakdown6 of 7 below good
Capable, compassionate and inclusive leadersSome shortfalls
Governance, management and sustainabilitySome shortfalls
Learning, improvement and innovationSome shortfalls
Partnerships and communitiesSome shortfalls
Shared direction and cultureSome shortfalls
Workforce equality, diversity and inclusionSome shortfalls
Freedom to speak upGood
Percentages are CQC scores from its newer way of assessing homes. ?
CQC scored 33 standards: 15 good, 18 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. ?
Southborough Care Home is in the Requires improvement tier ?, with 56 other homes in Essex.
84% of rated homes here are Good or Outstanding (England: 82%).
Southborough Care Home is a 12-bed residential care home in Chelmsford, Essex. The home is its own registered provider. CQC registers it to look after older people, people with dementia, younger adults and people with a learning disability or autism. The typical home in Essex has 22 beds, so this one is on the small side.
About 0.1 km away, Cherry Wood Grange Care Home is rated Good. The kitchen has a food hygiene rating of 5 (very good), from August 2026. 89% of homes in Essex also score 5. In Essex, 84% of rated care homes are Good or Outstanding (England 82%).
CQC's latest rating, from March 2025, is Requires improvement overall. It was Requires improvement for safe and well-led as well. Effective, caring and responsive were rated Good. Before that, in December 2018, it was rated Good. That is more recent than most ratings in Essex, where the typical rating is about 5 years old. CQC found significant shortfalls in “medicines optimisation”, one of 18 standards out of 33 scored below good.
