Saxon Lodge care home in Bridge is rated Inadequate and in special measures after the CQC found 7 breaches. What the report found and what families can do.
A care home for older people in Bridge, near Canterbury, has been rated Inadequate and placed in special measures by the Care Quality Commission.
Saxon Lodge, on Western Avenue, cares for older people, some of them living with dementia. Each of the five areas the regulator looks at had been rated Good at its previous inspection. The assessment report published today says “the quality of the service had deteriorated” and records seven breaches of regulation.
Inspectors assessed the home between 2 and 23 July 2026. It was looking after 21 people at the time. Its registration allows a maximum of 23, according to the CQC register.
The regulator also served a warning notice on the provider on 24 August 2026 “for failing to meet regulations related to the management of risk”.
The ratings
| Key question | Rating now | Score out of 100 | Previous rating |
|---|---|---|---|
| Safe | Inadequate | 38 | Good |
| Effective | Requires improvement | 50 | Good |
| Caring | Requires improvement | 40 | Good |
| Responsive | Requires improvement | 46 | Good |
| Well-led | Inadequate | 36 | Good |
The report says the seven breaches relate to:
- safe care and treatment
- the management of medicines
- governance of the service
- staffing
- dignity and consent
- responding to complaints
- person-centred care
What inspectors found
The most striking passage is in the safeguarding section. One person told inspectors: “A lady asked when she would go home, staff told her this was their home. When the lady asked when she would leave, staff told her when she died. This upset her and me.”
People and relatives described staff speaking to residents “in a derogatory way”. Relatives said they had seen staff and the management team swearing and arguing in front of residents, in corridors and communal areas. The report says this had increased some people’s anxiety.
Other findings in the report:
- Distress was not handled. Relatives said staff phoned them to come in and calm their family member, including at night, because staff did not know what to do. Inspectors saw people walking around needing reassurance with no staff present.
- Weight loss was missed. One resident had lost 16% of their body weight since admission, but a screening score recorded no risk, the effective section says.
- Medicines were not always given as prescribed. One person’s indigestion medicine was signed for after breakfast only, not after every meal and at bedtime as prescribed. Handwritten instructions for post-operative eye drops were unclear.
- Care staff did the cleaning. Staff were expected to do all the laundry during the day and the cleaning at night, on top of care. The morning medicines round ran from 8.30am to 10.30am on the day inspectors visited.
- Safeguarding incidents were not reported to the CQC. The local authority was told, but the regulator was not, as the law requires.
The well-led section says the registered manager, who is also the provider, “was not a regular presence at the service”. A deputy manager ran the home day to day. Relatives told inspectors they had raised concerns at meetings and in surveys, and that these had not been investigated.
Not every finding was negative. People who could say what they wanted told inspectors they were happy with their care. Falls were followed up properly. The provider had recently bought a minibus and residents had started going on trips they enjoyed.
What the provider has done since
The report records several changes the provider told the CQC about after the inspection:
- it has employed staff to do the laundry and cleaning
- it has changed its care planning system and sent examples of updated care plans
- it has introduced a photo menu at mealtimes
- it has added staff training and checks on how staff speak to residents
- it has made improvements to its medicines systems
The CQC has not yet re-inspected to check these changes.
What special measures means
Special measures is the CQC’s framework for services rated Inadequate. The report says it is meant to make sure the home makes “significant improvements”, within a set timeframe, with the regulator’s enforcement powers behind it.
The report also notes that where the CQC has begun regulatory action, it may publish that action only after any representations or appeals by the provider have concluded.
What it means for you
If you have a relative at Saxon Lodge:
- Read the full report and its five sections, which go into far more detail than any summary.
- Ask the home what has changed since July and what its action plan says.
- If your relative’s place is funded by Kent County Council, their social worker or the council’s adult social care team can review the placement with you.
- You can give feedback on the service directly to the CQC. The regulator says this helps it decide when and where to inspect.
If you are choosing a care home, every home’s current rating is on its CQC profile page. The latest report date matters as much as the rating: Saxon Lodge’s previous Good rating dated from an inspection in March 2020.
Saxon Lodge Residential Home Limited can reply to this report through the CQC’s processes.
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