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CQC report explained · a residential care home, run by Lifeways Community Care

Delrose

99 Portsmouth Road, Southampton, SO19 9BE

Goodpublished 10 December 2025, 8 months ago

Rated Good: inspectors found the service performing well and meeting their expectations.

The latest report, explained

What inspectors found, December 2023

Delrose is rated Requires Improvement; inspectors found widespread safety, staffing, dignity and management problems, although an improvement plan was under way.

Inspectors visited without warning on 28 June and 3 July 2023. They observed care, spoke with people, staff, managers and relatives, and checked care, staff and management records. They also considered information from local authority and NHS professionals involved in a large safeguarding enquiry.

They found that care was not consistently safe, effective, kind, personalised or well managed. Problems included missed safeguarding reports, incomplete risk assessments, unsafe support for people at risk of choking, medicines not always given at the right time, poor cleaning and not enough suitably skilled staff.

The provider was working on a detailed improvement plan and had brought in experienced managers from other locations. By October 2023, the provider reported that 82 of 69 high-priority and 24 medium-priority actions had been completed, with 33 more started and under way. Inspectors said improvements were being made, but they were not yet fully part of everyday practice.

All five CQC areas were rated Requires Improvement. This is a lower rating than the previous Good rating, published in December 2022, and means there was limited assurance that people were consistently safe and receiving good-quality care.

What inspectors praised
  • Safe recruitment

    The provider had a robust recruitment process and kept records needed to support safer recruitment decisions.

    There was a robust recruitment process which included retention of the necessary records to show evidence of safe recruitment.from the report
  • Improvement plan

    The provider had a detailed improvement plan and was sharing regular updates about its progress with inspectors.

    The provider was working to a thorough, credible improvement plan at the time of inspection.from the report
  • Working with outside professionals

    The provider cooperated with the safeguarding enquiry and accepted training and advice from local authority and NHS professionals.

    The provider had cooperated openly with the large scale safeguarding enquiry established by local authority and NHS professionals.from the report
  • Learning from the inspection

    The provider had introduced a staff skills audit, quality workshops and better supervision and support for night staff.

    The provider had created a learning culture at the service which improved the care people received.from the report
What inspectors were concerned about
  • Safeguarding and risk

    serious

    Safeguarding incidents were not always reported, and risk assessments were not always maintained or followed. Inspectors found increased risk that people could be harmed.

    People were not always safeguarded from abuse and avoidable harm.from the report
  • Choking support

    serious

    Some people identified as at risk of choking did not receive the right support when eating and drinking.

    For example, people identified as at risk of choking did not receive appropriate support to eat and drink.from the report
  • Medicines

    serious

    People did not always receive medicines at the right time, including medicines that care plans said should be taken with food. Some staff were unsure why certain medicines were time critical.

    People did not always receive their medicines at the right time, particularly where care plans stated medicines should be taken with food.from the report
  • Staffing and continuity

    serious

    The home did not always have enough suitably skilled staff. Staff and managers from other locations were used, but inspectors said this was not sustainable and affected continuity.

    The provider did not always ensure there were sufficient numbers of suitable staff.from the report
  • Dignity and choice

    needs fixing

    Some staff treated people with care and offered choices, but others showed little engagement or did not respond quickly when people's dignity was affected.

    People's privacy, dignity and independence were not always respected and promoted.from the report
  • Cleanliness and environment

    needs fixing

    Cleaning rotas were not consistently followed, and a deep clean did not initially meet the required standard. Some items needed replacement and storage obstructed a fire escape route.

    Staff did not always follow cleaning rotas which meant cleaning was not done regularly or effectively.from the report
Questions to ask them, based on this report
  1. 01What evidence can you show that safeguarding incidents are now reported correctly and that risk assessments are kept up to date?
  2. 02How are you checking that staff understand and follow each person's choking guidance and medicines instructions?
  3. 03How many permanent suitably trained staff are now in post, and how are you maintaining continuity for people who need familiar staff?
  4. 04How do you check that staff use each person's communication plan, offer genuine choices and protect privacy and dignity?
  5. 05Who is currently responsible for the home, and what progress has been made in completing the improvement plan since October 2023?

This was an unannounced inspection of all five CQC question areas, including the premises and care provided; all five ratings were reassessed and changed from Good to Requires Improvement. This explanation was written from the published report of 2 December 2023 by an AI system and checked against the report text: every quoted line appears in the report. It is a guide to the report, not a substitute for it. Read the full report on cqc.org.uk.

The story over the years

Every inspection of Delrose

7 rated inspections over 6 years: the service has slipped, from Good to Requires improvement.

  1. December 2023Requires improvementcurrent ratingdown from Good
    Safe: Requires improvementEffective: Requires improvementCaring: Requires improvementResponsive: Requires improvementWell-led: Requires improvement

    Read what inspectors found at Delrose

  2. December 2022Goodstayed Good
    Safe: GoodEffective: GoodWell-led: Good

    We are reading this report · the original is on cqc.org.uk

  3. February 2021Goodup from Requires improvement
    Safe: GoodWell-led: Good

    Read this report on cqc.org.uk

  4. August 2019Requires improvementstayed Requires improvement
    Safe: Requires improvementEffective: GoodCaring: GoodResponsive: GoodWell-led: Requires improvement

    Read this report on cqc.org.uk

  5. January 2019Requires improvementstayed Requires improvement
    Safe: Requires improvementEffective: Requires improvementCaring: GoodResponsive: GoodWell-led: Requires improvement

    Read this report on cqc.org.uk

  6. June 2018Requires improvementdown from Good
    Safe: Requires improvementEffective: Requires improvementCaring: Requires improvementResponsive: Requires improvementWell-led: Requires improvement

    Read this report on cqc.org.uk

  7. June 2017Good
    Safe: Requires improvementEffective: GoodCaring: GoodResponsive: GoodWell-led: Good

    Read this report on cqc.org.uk

  8. May 2016

    Registered with the Care Quality Commission on 19 May 2016.

Ratings and report dates from the Care Quality Commission. A service can also be visited without a new rating being published, so the timeline shows published inspections, not every contact the CQC has had with the service.

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