Agenda item

Consideration was given to the latest quarterly summary regarding Care Quality Commission (CQC) inspections for services operating within the Borough (Appendix 1).  Eight inspection reports were published during this period (January to March 2026 (inclusive)), with attention drawn to the following Stockton-on-Tees Borough Council (SBC) contracted providers:

Providers rated ‘Good’ overall (2)

·       Stockton Lodge Care Home retained its ‘Good’ overall rating which it last attained during a previous focused inspection (the outcomes of which were published in September 2022).

·       Partners4Care Limited, a care at home / supported living provider, had its overall rating upgraded to ‘Good’.  A previous focused inspection (the outcomes of which were published in June 2023) deemed that the service required improvement, but all five CQC domains were now judged ‘Good’.

The remaining six reports involved four primary medical care services and two hospital / other health care services.  Regarding the former category, Riverside Medical Practice and The Densham Surgery maintained an overall rating of ‘Good’ (though improvements were required at Riverside in relation to safe care and treatment following identification of a breach of regulation), whilst McCormick & Harrington Limited (also known as Billingham Dental) was meeting regulations in all five inspection domains.  However, Norton Medical Centre remained ‘Requires Improvement’ (repeating its overall rating from its previous inspection, the outcomes of which were published in March 2025) following two identified breaches of regulation with regard to safe care and treatment, good governance, and fit and proper persons employed – this saw the ‘safe’ and ‘responsive’ domains graded ‘Requires Improvement’ and the ‘well-led’ domain deemed ‘Inadequate’.  For the latter category, Stockton Dialysis Clinic (based within the University Hospital of North Tees) was judged ‘Good’ overall and across all five inspection domains, but HQ (an ambulance service provided by Direct Medical Transport Limited) received an overall rating of ‘Requires Improvement’ following its first ever inspection – this included an ‘Inadequate’ grading for the ‘well-led’ domain.

Focus turned to the section on Provider Assessment and Market Management Solutions (PAMMS) inspections (Appendix 2), of which there were twelve reports published during this period (January to March 2026 (inclusive)):

·       Woodside Grange Care Home, Wellburn House, Victoria House Nursing Home, Cherry Tree Care Centre, Willow View Care Home, and Allison House all maintained an overall rating of ‘Good’ – the same grading all six services achieved following their previous inspections.  Wellburn House saw improvements in the ‘quality of management’ domain, Victoria House in the ‘safeguarding and safety’ domain, and Allison House in the ‘suitability of staffing’ domain.  However, shortfalls were identified at Willow View in terms of ‘suitability of staffing’ (which had been downgraded from ‘Good’ to ‘Requires Improvement’).

·       CEL Homecare Teesside, Parkside Court and Aspen Gardens received a ‘Good’ overall rating after being inspected for the first time, though all three required improvements within the ‘suitability of staffing’ domain.  Vestra Homecare Hartlepool, which provided services within Stockton-on-Tees, was also graded ‘Good’ overall (and across all five PAMMS domains) following its first inspection.

·       Roseville Care Centre and Ingleby Care Home had been upgraded to ‘Good’ overall (deemed ‘Good’ in all five domains) following the previous ‘Requires Improvement’ positions both received in February 2025 and March 2025 respectively.

The Committee thanked the SBC Quality Assurance and Compliance (QuAC) Manager for presenting the report which, particularly from a PAMMS perspective, was a very positive quarterly period.

AGREED that the CQC / PAMMS Inspection Results – Quarterly Summary (Q4 2025-2026) report be noted.