Care home · Gateshead
South Chowdene
Illustrative photo, not of South Chowdene- Address
- Chowdene Bank, Low Fell, Gateshead, NE9 6JE
- Run by
- Barchester Healthcare Homes Limited (165 services)
- Type of provider
- Independent (private company)
- Service
- Nursing home
- Beds
- 42 (registered with CQC)
- Nursing care
- Yes, registered as a nursing home (CQC registration)
- Dementia
- Not listed as a specialism with CQC; ask the provider
- Registered with CQC
- February 2011 (15 years)
- Part of
- Barchester Healthcare
- Registered manager
- Anca Chis
- Company check
- Active, trading since 1993 (33 years), accounts up to date (Companies House 02849519)
- Last CQC check
- 5 Jan 2026
- Typical fees Estimated
- £1,170–£1,440 a week for nursing care. An estimate based on local published fees. Ask for a written quote. How we estimate
Regulated activities on its registration: Accommodation for persons who require nursing or personal care · Treatment of disease, disorder or injury
More in Gateshead: Care homes in Gateshead (32) · Best rated care homes in Gateshead · Care homes for elderly care in Gateshead · Care homes for physical disability care in Gateshead · Care homes for sensory impairment care in Gateshead
Full report at cqc.org.uk · CQC location ID 1-125861945
About South Chowdene
South Chowdene in Gateshead is registered with the Care Quality Commission as a nursing home, run by Barchester Healthcare Homes Limited. The service is registered to support adults of all ages and lists physical disabilities and sight or hearing loss among its specialisms.
CQC rated it Good overall (January 2026). It is one of 32 CQC-registered care homes in and around Gateshead; 30 of those are rated Good or Outstanding.
Key points from CQC's visit
- Date of Inspection: 21 November to 15 December 2025.
- At the time of inspection, 28 people were receiving care from the service.
- Since the last inspection in 2021 there have been 6 registered managers, with 4 in the last year, and other peripatetic managers covering at times.
- One relative said, “The home desperately needs an activities coordinator; sitting in front of a TV doesn’t benefit my mother.” The registered manager was in the process of recruiting a new activities coordinator.
Inspected 16 February 2021; report published 11 March 2021. From the regulator's own summary (Open Government Licence). Read the full report.
Specialisms
From the CQC register; ask how each need is met in practice.
The registered provider
South Chowdene is run by Barchester Healthcare Homes Limited (company 02849519), incorporated in 1993, 17 years before this service registered with CQC.
At Companies House, the company is listed as active, its accounts are filed on time, it has 5 active directors and there is no insolvency history.
Its registered business activity is other human health activities.
Barchester Healthcare Homes Limited runs 165 CQC-registered services across 73 council areas; 116 of the 129 with a rating are Good or Outstanding (90%), against 83% for the same mix of services across England.
3 of its services are in Gateshead.
It trades under the Barchester Healthcare brand, which covers 165 services run by 1 registered provider.
Track record
South Chowdene has been registered with CQC since February 2011, about 15 years.
CQC has published 8 overall ratings for it (2014–2026), starting at Inspected but not rated and improving to Good.
There are 6 CQC reports on file for this address; the newest is from 11 March 2021.
The five key questions
- Safe66% score46 of 47 in Gateshead
- Effective62% score47 of 47 in Gateshead
- Caring70% score42 of 47 in Gateshead
- Responsive71% score45 of 47 in Gateshead
- Well-led71% score41 of 47 in Gateshead
Source: CQC, published 5 January 2026. Under each rating: how many care homes in Gateshead share it.
Choice nearby
Choice is wide here: the 25 nearest other care homes are all within 3 miles, 24 of them rated Good or Outstanding, and the closest is Glenbrooke House, under 0.5 miles away.
6 of the 24 nearest rated care homes have a more recent rating than this one.
It sits in Low Fell ward, classed by ONS as urban (nearer to a major town or city), among the 30% least deprived neighbourhoods in England. NHS services here are planned by NHS North East and North Cumbria ICB.
Within about a 10-minute walk there is a GP surgery (4 min), a pharmacy (8 min), a shop (2 min), a park (6 min), a café (6 min) and a bus stop (1 min), which matters for residents who can go out and for visiting family.
Reading South Chowdene's CQC ratings
All five areas CQC looks at are rated Good for South Chowdene: no single area stands out above or below the rest.
For leadership (Well-led), it shares its Good rating with 40 of the 46 other care homes in Gateshead that CQC has rated.
Under CQC's newer scoring, its strongest area is Responsive at 71% and its lowest is Effective at 62%, averaging 68% overall.
Scores behind the rating
Each area below is made up of several quality statements, each scored 1 to 4 by CQC; the percentage combines those scores for the area. Averaged across the five areas, South Chowdene scores 68%.
Safe 66%
- Learning culture3 · Good
- Safe systems, pathways and transitions3 · Good
- Safeguarding3 · Good
- Involving people to manage risks2 · Some shortfalls
- Safe environments3 · Good
- Safe and effective staffing2 · Some shortfalls
- Infection prevention and control3 · Good
- Medicines optimisation2 · Some shortfalls
Effective 62%
- Assessing needs2 · Some shortfalls
- Delivering evidence-based care and treatment3 · Good
- How staff, teams and services work together3 · Good
- Supporting people to live healthier lives3 · Good
- Monitoring and improving outcomes2 · Some shortfalls
- Consent to care and treatment2 · Some shortfalls
Caring 70%
- Kindness, compassion and dignity3 · Good
- Treating people as individuals3 · Good
- Independence, choice and control3 · Good
- Responding to people’s immediate needs2 · Some shortfalls
- Workforce wellbeing and enablement3 · Good
Responsive 71%
- Person-centred Care2 · Some shortfalls
- Care provision, Integration and continuity3 · Good
- Providing Information3 · Good
- Listening to and involving people3 · Good
- Equity in access3 · Good
- Equity in experiences and outcomes3 · Good
- Planning for the future3 · Good
Well-led 71%
- Shared direction and culture3 · Good
- Capable, compassionate and inclusive leaders3 · Good
- Freedom to speak up3 · Good
- Workforce equality, diversity and inclusion3 · Good
- Governance, management and sustainability2 · Some shortfalls
- Partnerships and communities3 · Good
- Learning, improvement and innovation3 · Good
Scores: 4 exceptional, 3 good, 2 some shortfalls, 1 significant shortfalls. From CQC's assessment, assessed 9 September 2025, published 5 January 2026 (Open Government Licence). A statement with no score was not looked at in this assessment; its earlier result still counts.
How its rating has changed
- Jun 2014
- Oct 2015
- Jul 2016
- May 2017
- Nov 2017
- Apr 2020
- Mar 2021
- Jan 2026
- Today Rated in the last 12 months
Every overall rating on record for this location, earliest first. The latest rating is an improvement on the one before.
CQC documents
- CQC inspection report 11 March 2021
- CQC inspection report 30 April 2020
- CQC inspection report 21 November 2017
- CQC inspection report 20 May 2017
- CQC inspection report 13 July 2016
- CQC inspection report 21 October 2015
Council food inspection
The kitchen has a food hygiene rating of 5 (very good), from an inspection on 29 September 2025 by Gateshead. Try to visit at a mealtime: it shows how food, choice and help with eating work in practice.
From the Food Standards Agency (listed as "South Chowdene Nursing Home"). Open Government Licence.
Finding it
- Ward
- Low Fell
- Council
- Gateshead Council · paying for care
- Parliamentary constituency
- Gateshead Central and Whickham
- NHS planning area
- NHS North East and North Cumbria Integrated Care Board
- ONS area type
- Urban, nearer to a major town or city
- Neighbourhood deprivation
- Among the 30% least deprived areas in England
- Postcode district
- Care homes in NE9 (12)
See the wider area · Directions · Map data: OpenStreetMap contributors
Local amenities
- Bus stop 110 m (1 min walk) · 25 stops within 600 m
- GP surgery Low Fell Clinic, 330 m (4 min walk)
- Pharmacy Boots, 650 m (8 min walk)
- Shop MK Food and Wine, 190 m (2 min walk)
- Park Kells Lane Park, 500 m (6 min walk)
- Café Davey's Breakfast & Sandwiches, 470 m (6 min walk)
- Place of worship Cromer Avenue U.R.C., 220 m (3 min walk)
- Library Low Fell Library, 140 m (2 min walk)
From OpenStreetMap data (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL), measured in a straight line, so allow extra for the actual route on foot.
Local area facts: ONS and NHS geography via postcodes.io, Open Government Licence.
Costs to expect
We estimate South Chowdene at £1,170–£1,440 a week for nursing care, based on published prices in the region. Over a year that is roughly £61k–£75k.
Where a resident needs nursing, the NHS pays part of the fee straight to the home as NHS-funded nursing care, regardless of who pays the rest.
If savings are under the upper limit (£23,250 in England), Gateshead Council may pay part of the cost after a free care needs assessment.
Family reviews
No family has reviewed South Chowdene on The Care Panel so far.
Each review is tied to a verified email. We publish both good and bad, and providers may respond but not delete. How reviews work.
South Chowdene against its area
- Rated Good. Across Gateshead, 98% of the 47 rated care homes are Good or Outstanding and 2 are Outstanding.
- Its rating (January 2026) is more recent than 72% of care home ratings in Gateshead.
- With 42 beds it is larger than 55% of care homes in Gateshead, where the typical home has 40.
- Registered with CQC in 2011: it has been registered longer than 61% of care homes in the area.
- It lists 4 specialisms with CQC; the typical care home in Gateshead lists 4.
Benchmarked against all CQC-registered care homes in Gateshead (Oct 2026).
Nearby options
Guides for families
Newer ratings near Gateshead
- Pinetree LodgeFeb 2026
- Hawksbury HouseDec 2025
- Alexandra VillaAug 2026
South Chowdene questions answered
- What type of care does South Chowdene provide?
- South Chowdene is registered with CQC for: nursing homes. Ask the provider which needs it can meet now and as needs change.
- Where is South Chowdene?
- It is at Chowdene Bank, Low Fell, Gateshead, NE9 6JE.
- Is South Chowdene regulated by the Care Quality Commission?
- Yes: CQC lists it as a care home under location ID 1-125861945 and was rated Good overall in January 2026.
- Is South Chowdene registered for dementia care?
- It is not registered with dementia as a specialism, so confirm with the provider whether it can meet that need.
- How recent is South Chowdene's CQC rating?
- The rating now shown was published on 5 January 2026. Ask what has changed since then, for example in management or staffing.
- How many residents can South Chowdene take?
- South Chowdene has 42 registered places. Ask how many are free now and which rooms have en-suites.
- Who is the registered provider for South Chowdene?
- CQC lists Barchester Healthcare Homes Limited as the provider responsible for South Chowdene.
- What are South Chowdene's fees?
- No fee list from South Chowdene has reached us. Residential care home typically costs £1,185 a week (average 2026 self-funder fees in North East). Ask for written prices covering weekends, bank holidays and any travel or set-up charges.
- Is South Chowdene rated well for safety?
- CQC rates five key questions. For South Chowdene: Safe: Good; Effective: Good; Caring: Good; Responsive: Good; Well-led: Good. Safe and Well-led are the sections most worth your time.
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Register data from the Care Quality Commission, refreshed Oct 2026, used under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Provider-written text is labelled as such. We are an independent directory, not a care provider.