Southway
290 London Road, Bedford, MK42 0PX · Bedford · East of England
What the record says
Rated Requires improvement overall, and the rating is 3 years old, and 2 of this operator's 10 rated services are below Good.
- Below Good on
- SafeRequires improvement, published 1 Sep 2022rating 3+ yrs oldWell-ledRequires improvement, published 1 Sep 2022rating 3+ yrs old
- Age of rating
- 3 years old — published 1 Sep 2022. CQC has not re-inspected since; a re-inspection could move it in either direction.
- Operator's wider portfolio
- 2 of 10 of Bedford Borough Council's rated services are Requires improvement or Inadequate.
Verbatim CQC ratings, each dated · data as at 8 Jul 2026 · source: CQC
- Care type
- Care home without nursing
- Beds
- 42
- Registered with CQC
- 7 Apr 2014
- Run by
- Bedford Borough Council
- Phone
- 01234267737
Contact details as recorded by CQC — we don’t hold fees, vacancies or waiting lists, so those are worth asking about directly.
Who this service supports
The groups this service is registered with CQC to support. Registration says who a service may care for — it is not a quality judgement, and it is not a recommendation.
Select a group to see other services registered for it in Bedford.
Care home without nursing
Looking for services registered for a particular need? Find care that fits in Bedford.
Data as published by CQC to 8 Jul 2026 · source: CQC
The five key questions
| Key question | Rating | Published |
|---|---|---|
| Safe | Requires improvementrating 3+ yrs old | 1 Sep 2022 |
| Effective | Goodrating 3+ yrs old | 1 Feb 2020 |
| Caring | Goodrating 3+ yrs old | 1 Feb 2020 |
| Responsive | Goodrating 3+ yrs old | 1 Feb 2020 |
| Well-led | Requires improvementrating 3+ yrs old | 1 Sep 2022 |
Ratings verbatim as published by CQC. Key questions can carry different dates when CQC re-inspects only part of a service.
Data as published by CQC to 8 Jul 2026 · source: CQC
Same operator — 10 other locations
Other active services registered to Bedford Borough Council. The verdict above reads across this operator's whole rated portfolio.
| Name | Overall rating (published) | Local authority |
|---|---|---|
| Assessment and Enablement Team | Good, published 22 May 2025 | Bedford |
| Brookside | Requires improvement, published 18 May 2026 | Bedford |
| Dame Alice Court | Good, published 10 Jun 2025 | Bedford |
| George Beal House | Good, published 22 May 2025 | Bedford |
| Highfield | Requires improvement, published 29 Nov 2023 | Bedford |
| Parkside | Good, published 16 Oct 2024 | Bedford |
| Puttenhoe | Good, published 25 Mar 2025 | Bedford |
| Rivermead | Good, published 9 Apr 2025 | Bedford |
| Shared Lives Bedford | Not yet rated | Bedford |
| Tavistock Court | Good, published 24 Feb 2025 | Bedford |
Data as published by CQC to 8 Jul 2026 · source: CQC
CQC publishes registrations and ratings. It holds nothing at all about fees, current vacancies, staffing levels, or the building itself — there is no field anywhere for door widths, hoists, wet rooms or ground-floor rooms. So no site, including this one, can tell you those. They are worth asking directly — the number is above.
- What are the fees, and what do they not include?
- Do you have a vacancy now, and would you hold a room?
- How many staff are on at night, and how are transfers staffed?
- What change in someone’s needs would mean they had to move, and can I see that in the contract?
More on what to look for and ask on a visit —including what an occupational therapist would check for particular needs — at choosing a care home.
- Take the visit checklistWhat to look for and the questions to ask when you visit — the things a rating cannot tell you.
- Coming out of hospitalIf this follows a hospital stay: the discharge decision, reablement, and what to ask the ward.
- Ask the council for a needs assessmentFree, whatever the savings, and the formal route to arranged care and funding.
- Understand who paysThe means test, what happens to the home, and NHS Continuing Healthcare.
- How to read this ratingWhat the words mean, the five key questions, and why the date matters.
Need this on paper? The single-site diligence pack on Southway adds full rating history, inspection failure themes quoted verbatim, the operator's whole-portfolio record and Companies House linkage — hand-reviewed, every figure dated. £149 · delivered within 48 hours.
See a sample and order →Similar services nearby
Other services in Bedfordregistered for at least one of the same groups this service supports, listed with the strongest CQC ratings first. A place to look around — not a recommendation, and not an assessment of anyone’s needs.
- DanecroftBedford · 34 bedsOutstanding, published 1 Nov 2019rating 3+ yrs old
- Elcombe HouseBedford · 23 bedsOutstanding, published 11 Dec 2019rating 3+ yrs old
- Rutland Road Care HomeBedford · 5 bedsOutstanding, published 7 May 2026
- Victoria CottageBedford · 12 bedsOutstanding, published 17 Jan 2020rating 3+ yrs old
- Sector
- Social Care Org
- On CQC’s site
- cqc.org.uk/location/1-1332901354
Every rating on this page is shown verbatim as CQC published it, each with its own publication date. Data as at 8 Jul 2026 — as published by CQC, bulk files of 01–08 Jul 2026 · source: CQC · data & methods.