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The Gardens Care Home
Residential & Nursing Care
12 November 2024
Ascot Care North East Limited
60 beds
How this home compares nearby
Of 16 care homes for older people within 5 miles, 14 are rated higher by CQC, 2 are the same and none are lower.
2 of these nearby homes have been inspected more recently than this one.
Based on CQC ratings, updated 21 October 2026. How we compare homes | See the nearby homes
Rating history
- Jun 2015
- Apr 2016
- May 2018
- Feb 2025
Rating dropped from Good to Requires Improvement in 2025. CQC has rated this home 4 times since 2015.
Source: CQC inspection reports. Contains CQC data licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
Costs and who runs this home
Run by Ascot Care North East Limited, which runs 2 care homes in England: 2 rated Requires Improvement.
Average care home fees in the North East: £897 a week for residential care and £1,164 for nursing care (2024-25 averages). Self-funders usually pay more. See our care home costs guide.
- NHS-funded Nursing Care pays £267.68 a week to the home towards registered nursing care for eligible residents (2026/27). A quoted fee may already exclude it.
- How to pay for a care home explains the council means test, what counts as capital and the funding you can ask to be assessed for.
About The Gardens Care Home
The Gardens Care Home is in Darlington and provides nursing and personal care, including support for people living with dementia and a specialist mental health unit. Full details of the most recent CQC findings are set out below.
The Gardens Care Home provides accommodation with nursing and personal care for up to 56 people, including some living with dementia and a specialist mental health unit. The CQC rated the home Requires Improvement overall, following an unannounced assessment prompted by concerns about management, staffing and the environment. Inspectors found a breach relating to good governance, with weak oversight leading to poor record keeping around medicines and safeguarding, and some environmental issues needing attention.
People and relatives generally felt safe and spoke positively about staff, who were respectful and attentive. However, inspectors found gaps in recruitment checks, inconsistent staff training in the mental health unit, and incomplete mental capacity assessments and evacuation plans, meaning improvements were still required to ensure people were properly protected.
Source: CQC assessment, 26 February 2025
Specialist Care
Fees and availability
We have not verified a current weekly fee for this home. Ask for a written quote based on the room and care needed, including any extra charges.
Check current vacancies, the admission assessment and visiting arrangements directly with the home.
Care and inspection details
Checked against the CQC register on 21 September 2026. This is a check of published information, not a visit to the home.
- Registered service
- Care home service with nursing
- Registered capacity
- 60 places — this is not a vacancy count
- Registration checked
- Registered · DL3 8LH
Registered care categories
Caring for adults over 65 yrs; Caring for adults under 65 yrs; Mental health conditions; Physical disabilities.
These describe the registration. The home must assess whether it can meet the individual person's needs and whether a place is available.
CQC ratings in more detail
Overall rating shown by CQC: .
Assessment published 26 February 2025. Assessment date recorded: 12 November 2024.
Read CQC's assessment overview
The following is CQC's published account of its assessment, published 26 February 2025. References to “we” mean CQC. It describes findings at that time.
Date of Assessment: 22 November 2024 to 19 December 2024. The Gardens Care Home provides accommodation with nursing and personal care for up to 56 people. There were 52 people living at the home when we visited, some people were living with dementia. This unannounced assessment was partly due to concerns about management changes, staffing levels and the environment. We visited the home on 22 November and 26 November 2024. We asked the provider to send us further information, which they provided on 19 December 2024. We found 1 breach of the regulations relating to good governance. Inconsistent management oversight had led to significant shortfalls, placing people at risk of harm. This included ineffective record keeping for medicines and treatments and management of safeguarding concerns. Some improvements were needed to the environment to ensure it was safe. There were mixed views from people, staff and visitors about whether staffing levels were appropriate to meet people’s needs. There were some gaps in recruitment records. The provider was unable to evidence staff working in the specialist mental health unit had the correct training, skills and support to fulfil their role. Positive behaviour support plans lacked personalised information to help ensure people were supported consistently and sensitively. Improvements were required to ensure the Mental Capacity Act (MCA) was followed. MCA assessments and best interest decision lacked specific information to allow appropriate decisions to be made in the person’s best interest. Some personal emergency evacuation plans (PEEPS) were not up to date.
- Safe
- Effective
- Caring
- Responsive
- Well-led
Questions prompted by these ratings
- Safe: What changes have been made to medicines, staffing and safeguarding since this rating?
- Well-led: What has changed in management, checks and oversight since this rating?
These are questions for your visit, not a claim about conditions today.
Contains Care Quality Commission information under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Ratings and registration details can change after the date checked.
5 Questions to Ask on Your Visit
When visiting The Gardens Care Home, consider asking...
- 1.How many qualified nurses are on duty overnight and at weekends?
- 2.How do you manage a resident's relationship with their GP and hospital team?
- 3.What is your approach when a resident's condition deteriorates quickly?
- 4.What additional charges apply beyond the weekly fee?
- 5.How do you approach end of life care and involve families in those decisions?
5 Things to Look For on Your Visit
When you visit The Gardens Care Home, look out for...
- 1.Is the nursing station visible and staffed, or hard to find?
- 2.Do staff respond promptly when a resident needs attention?
- 3.Are call bells answered quickly or left ringing?
- 4.Does the home feel calm or rushed and understaffed?
- 5.Are residents' medical records and care plans visible and up to date?
Could the NHS fund The Gardens Care Home's fees?
The average nursing home costs £1,535 per week. That's £79,820 a year. NHS Continuing Healthcare could cover all of it. No means test, no contribution from you.
Location
Pondfield Close, Salutation Road, Darlington, County Durham, DL3 8LH

The Gardens Care Home
CQC overall rating
Assessment date: 12 November 2024
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