Nursing Homes in County Durham 57 nursing homes · 46 rated Good by CQC

Nursing homes in County Durham present, on the published evidence, a largely dependable picture: three hold an Outstanding rating and forty four are rated Good, set against six that have been told they Require Improvement and three too newly registered to have been given a rating at all. Fifty six providers make up that field in total, every one of them registered to keep a qualified nurse on site rather than care staff alone, which is what separates this type of home from residential care and what makes it the right choice when needs are clinical rather than simply practical. Anyone worried about the cost should know that Durham County Council is the body responsible for carrying out a care needs assessment and for deciding what funded support a person qualifies for, whatever their savings. Take the time to open the profiles worth considering, read the inspection findings sitting behind each rating, and let the evidence rather than the brochure decide which homes get a phone call.

All 57 nursing homes in County Durham

  1. Abbotts Court Care Home Nursing home in Durham · Rated Good by CQC

    CQC: good

    Wingate Lane, Durham, County Durham DH6 3LP

    Weekly fees

    £750 to £1,000 regional guide for the North East, ask the home

    Nursing on site

    Yes

    Short stays

    Yes, respite

    CQC rated

    May 2022 over 4 years ago, ask what has changed

    Run by

    Landona House Limited

    Local authority: Durham County Council · Check what you would pay

    • Nursing Home

    Abbotts Court Care Home is a nursing home in Durham caring for a broad range of adults. Most of our residents are older people who need qualified nursing alongside help with everyday life, and we also support adults with mental health needs, people with a physical disability, residents living with sight or hearing loss and younger adults. Nurses are on duty day and night, which means medication, wound and pressure care and conditions that need close monitoring are managed here, and somebody who becomes unwell is seen straight away rather than waiting for an appointment. Many residents are living with dementia. We keep the day calm and familiar, keep the same staff working with the same people and take time to understand what somebody means when speech has become difficult. For residents with mental health needs a calm household and staff who notice when something has shifted do most of the good, and we work closely with local services and doctors. Where there is a physical disability the right equipment is in place, and for residents with sight or hearing loss we adapt how we communicate and do not move things without saying so. Residents still choose when they get up, what they eat, where they sit and who visits. Respite stays are available. Please ring us if you would like to visit and meet the nurses on duty.

    • Older Person Care
    • Dementia Care
    • Mental Health
    • Physical Disability
    • Visual / Hearing Impairment
    • Younger Adults
    • Respite Care

    View Profile

  2. St Aiden's Cottage Nursing home in Durham · Rated Good by CQC

    CQC: good

    St Aiden's Cottage, Durham, County Durham DH7 7AA

    Weekly fees

    £750 to £1,000 regional guide for the North East, ask the home

    Nursing on site

    Yes

    Short stays

    Yes, respite

    CQC rated

    Apr 2021 over 5 years ago, ask what has changed

    Run by

    Durham Care Line Limited

    Local authority: Durham County Council · Check what you would pay

    • Nursing Home
    • Care Home

    We are St Aiden's Cottage in Durham. We provide both nursing and residential care for older people and younger adults, including those living with dementia, adults with learning disabilities and autistic adults, people with a mental health condition, people with a physical disability and people with a visual or hearing impairment, and we offer respite stays. Offering both kinds of care under one roof has an advantage that matters more than it may sound. Somebody who comes to us needing residential support and whose health later becomes more complicated does not have to move somewhere new at exactly the point when a move is hardest. They stay where they are, with the staff and surroundings they already know, and the level of care changes around them rather than the person being uprooted. With that mix of needs in one place, support has to be planned person by person rather than run to a single routine. Communication is where we start with every new resident. How does this person make themselves understood, and how do we make ourselves understood to them. We settle that early, use it consistently and check it is working rather than assuming. Where several conditions sit together, we look for the simple explanation before the complicated one. A hearing aid that has stopped working accounts for a great deal that would otherwise be recorded as confusion. Respite guests are assessed and welcomed exactly as permanent residents are. Our most recent overall rating from the Care Quality Commission is good.

    • Older Person Care
    • Dementia Care
    • Learning Disability / Autism
    • Mental Health
    • Physical Disability
    • Visual / Hearing Impairment
    • Younger Adults
    • Respite Care

    View Profile

  3. Bethany House Care Home Nursing home in Newton Aycliffe · Rated Requires improvement by CQC

    CQC: requires improvement

    Village Close, Newton Aycliffe, County Durham DL5 4UD

    Weekly fees

    £750 to £1,000 regional guide for the North East, ask the home

    Nursing on site

    Yes

    Short stays

    Yes, respite

    CQC rated

    Jan 2026

    Run by

    Objectquest Limited

    Local authority: Durham County Council · Check what you would pay

    • Nursing Home

    Bethany House Care Home is a nursing home in Newton Aycliffe caring for older people who need qualified nursing alongside help with everyday life, including residents with a physical disability, and for younger adults whose nursing needs are best met in a home like ours. Nurses are on duty day and night, which means medication, wound and pressure care and conditions that need close monitoring are managed here, and somebody who becomes unwell is seen straight away rather than waiting for an appointment. It also means people do not have to move on when their health needs change. For residents with a physical disability the right equipment is in place and our staff are trained to help with moving and positioning comfortably and safely, which for many people is the difference between a good day and an uncomfortable one. Good nursing exists to make an ordinary life possible. Residents choose when they get up, what they eat, where they sit and who comes to visit, and meals are cooked here with nobody hurried along. Respite stays are available for people needing nursing support for a short period, often after a hospital admission, and for family carers who need a proper break. Families are welcome and we would rather hear a concern early. Please ring us if you would like to visit and look round.

    • Older Person Care
    • Physical Disability
    • Younger Adults
    • Respite Care

    View Profile

  4. Bannatyne Lodge Nursing home in Peterlee · Rated Good by CQC

    CQC: good

    Bannatyne Care Home, Peterlee, County Durham SR8 5SB

    Weekly fees

    £750 to £1,000 regional guide for the North East, ask the home

    Nursing on site

    Yes

    Short stays

    Yes, respite

    CQC rated

    Nov 2022 over 3 years ago, ask what has changed

    Run by

    Hill Care 3 Limited

    Local authority: Durham County Council · Check what you would pay

    • Nursing Home

    Bannatyne Lodge is a nursing home in Peterlee, County Durham. We provide nursing care for older people and younger adults, we support people living with dementia and people with a physical disability, and we offer respite stays alongside permanent places. Having nurses on duty at every hour changes what is possible. Medication, skin integrity, nutrition, pain and mobility are watched by people trained to notice early, and a great deal that would otherwise become a hospital admission is dealt with in the person's own room. Families often say the biggest relief is no longer being the ones responsible for spotting everything. We work closely with GPs and community teams, and we tell relatives about changes promptly rather than waiting to be asked. Being kept informed is not a courtesy, it is part of the care. Alongside all that, we try to keep the ordinary parts of life intact. People are helped to dress properly, to eat food they actually like, to get outside and to see whoever they want to see, at whatever hour suits. We also care for people at the end of life, and we aim to do it with pain managed, family welcome at any time and the person's wishes written down while they can still say them. Our most recent overall rating from the Care Quality Commission is good. Visitors are welcome.

    • Older Person Care
    • Dementia Care
    • Physical Disability
    • Younger Adults
    • Respite Care

    View Profile

  5. Placeholder image

    St Andrews Nursing Home Nursing home in Stanley · Rated Good by CQC

    CQC: good

    Church Bank, Stanley, County Durham DH9 0DU

    Weekly fees

    £750 to £1,000 regional guide for the North East, ask the home

    Nursing on site

    Yes

    Short stays

    Yes, respite

    CQC rated

    Aug 2022 over 4 years ago, ask what has changed

    Run by

    St Andrews (MPS) Limited

    Local authority: Durham County Council · Check what you would pay

    • Nursing Home

    St Andrews Nursing Home is a nursing home in Stanley, County Durham. We provide nursing care for older people, and we support people living with dementia, people with a physical disability and people affected by alcohol or drug misuse. Respite stays are available alongside permanent places. With nurses on duty at every hour, medication, skin care, nutrition, pain and mobility are managed here, and a change in somebody's condition is noticed by people who know how they usually are. A good deal that would otherwise become a hospital admission is handled in the person's own room instead. Some of the people who come to us have had a difficult time before they arrive, and we do not treat that history as a verdict on somebody. What matters is how the person wants to live now and what support would make that possible. We are careful that the clinical side does not take over the day. People are helped to dress properly, to eat food they actually like and to see whoever they want. Our most recent overall rating from the Care Quality Commission is good. Please come and visit if you are considering nursing care locally.

    • Older Person Care
    • Dementia Care
    • Physical Disability
    • Respite Care
    • Alcohol / Drug Misuse

    View Profile

  6. Placeholder image

    Laurel Place Nursing home in Bishop Auckland

    Gudmunsen Avenue, Bishop Auckland, County Durham DL14 6RG

    Weekly fees

    £750 to £1,000 regional guide for the North East, ask the home

    Nursing on site

    Yes

    Short stays

    Yes, respite

    CQC rated

    Not yet rated

    Run by

    Laurel Place Health Care Limited

    Local authority: Durham County Council · Check what you would pay

    • Nursing Home

    Laurel Place is a nursing home in Bishop Auckland, providing nursing care to older adults and to some younger adults, with respite stays available. We support residents living with dementia, residents with mental health needs, and residents with a physical disability. Having qualified nurses on duty at all hours means health problems are recognised and managed here, by people who know the resident well, rather than through hospital admissions that often leave somebody weaker and more disoriented than when they went in. It also means a family ringing with a worry gets a proper clinical answer rather than being asked to wait for a call back. Dementia care and mental health care both rest on the same foundation, which is knowing the person well enough to understand what they are telling you when they cannot say it plainly. A settled staff team, a routine that holds its shape, and time given rather than grudged achieve more than any particular intervention. We try to keep the nursing in the background of somebody's day rather than at the centre of it. The clinical work is done properly and without fuss, and the rest of the day belongs to the resident. We do not currently hold an overall rating from the Care Quality Commission. Anyone weighing up a nursing home for themselves or a relative is welcome to visit and see how the place runs on an ordinary day.

    • Older Person Care
    • Dementia Care
    • Mental Health
    • Physical Disability
    • Younger Adults
    • Respite Care

    View Profile

  7. Parklands Nursing Home Nursing home in Seaham · Rated Good by CQC

    CQC: good

    Station Road, Seaham, County Durham SR7 0AD

    Weekly fees

    £750 to £1,000 regional guide for the North East, ask the home

    Nursing on site

    Yes

    Short stays

    Yes, respite

    CQC rated

    Apr 2018 over 8 years ago, ask what has changed

    Run by

    Malhotra Care Homes Limited

    Local authority: Durham County Council · Check what you would pay

    • Nursing Home

    Parklands Nursing Home is a nursing home in Seaham, County Durham. We provide nursing care for older people, including those living with dementia and people with a physical disability, and we also support some younger adults with nursing needs. Respite stays are available. Having qualified nurses on site means people can remain with us as their health needs change rather than facing another move, which matters a great deal to families who have already been through one difficult transition. The clinical side is only part of it though. Most of what makes a day good or bad here has little to do with nursing. It is whether somebody was helped at their own pace, whether the food was something they genuinely wanted, whether their room feels like theirs and whether they were asked rather than told. Dementia support is a significant part of our work. Familiar staff, steady routines and patience do more good than anything else, along with a real effort to understand what somebody means when words have become unreliable. We treat distress as communication rather than as behaviour to be managed. Families are closely involved because they usually hold the history that makes sense of the present. Our most recent overall rating from the Care Quality Commission is good. We take it as confirmation that the everyday things are sound and we keep examining the detail. If you are considering a nursing home in this area for a relative, please come and see us, speak to our nurses and ask us whatever you need to know.

    • Older Person Care
    • Dementia Care
    • Physical Disability
    • Younger Adults
    • Respite Care

    View Profile

What nursing homes cost in County Durham, per week

Type of careWhat the council paysWhat self-funders are typically asked
Residential care Middle half of prices from 13 North East homes. Median £1,369.Varies by council£1,331 to £1,392
Nursing care England figure, because too few North East homes publish this price. 140 homes. Median £1,916.Varies by council£1,600 to £2,071
Residential dementia care Middle half of prices from 14 North East homes. Median £1,458.Not published separately£1,268 to £1,548
Nursing dementia care England figure, because too few North East homes publish this price. 75 homes. Median £2,050.Not published separately£1,890 to £2,221

Published prices are often starting prices, and come from homes that publish fees, so treat them as a guide. What a council pays differs from council to council. Ask the home for its own price. Powered by Orrery Intelligence.

Arranging and funding a nursing home place in County Durham

Two separate systems decide how a nursing placement is funded, one run by the council and one by the health service, and they do not always announce themselves. Families who understand both from the outset tend to end up better off than those who work it out afterwards.

Getting the assessment under way

Everything begins with a care needs assessment, which sets out what support is required and whether that support calls for a registered nurse on the premises. It is free, unaffected by savings, and can be requested by the person concerned or by someone acting for them. Durham County Council social care team is the authority responsible for carrying out that assessment and for deciding what funded support follows from it. Where the process is being run from a hospital ward, ask who is coordinating it and insist on a copy of the written outcome rather than an account of it over the phone.

The health service contribution

Because these homes provide nursing, two health funding routes apply that would not apply to residential care. NHS funded nursing care is a weekly sum paid straight to the home towards the registered nursing element of the fee, and entitlement to it rests on assessment rather than on income or savings. NHS Continuing Healthcare goes further and meets the full cost of a placement where a person's primary need is judged to be a health need. Ask which of these has been considered, and ask for the decision in writing, since neither is reliably offered without prompting.

What the council looks at

Council support follows a financial assessment covering capital and income, with a property usually taken into account for a permanent move. Below the national upper capital threshold the council contributes towards fees; above it the placement is normally self funded. Fees themselves vary between homes according to nursing input and complexity of need, so ask for a written breakdown that separates the nursing element from everything else.

Choosing between nursing homes in County Durham

How the local ratings are distributed

The area has fifty six registered nursing homes. Three carry Outstanding: The Hawthorns, Jack Dormand Care Home and Bradbury House. Forty four hold Good, including Defoe Court, Ashwood Park Residential and Nursing Home, Lindisfarne Care Home and Barrington Lodge. Six sit at Requires Improvement and three have yet to be rated, which usually reflects recent registration rather than any concern. Ratings age, so check the date of the inspection and read what was said under each domain rather than stopping at the headline word.

Clinical questions worth asking

Ask how many registered nurses cover the day shift and the night shift, and whether those posts are filled by permanent staff or agency. Ask how the home responds when someone deteriorates overnight, which visiting professionals come in regularly, and how confident staff are with pressure area care, catheters and end of life support. A home that manages nursing well will give specific answers rather than reassurance.

What you can only learn in person

Arrange to visit twice, once by appointment and once without warning, and try to be there while a meal is served. Notice whether residents who cannot speak easily are still spoken to, how long call bells ring, and whether staff move at a pace that suggests enough of them are on shift. Ask to see an ordinary vacant room rather than the one kept for viewings.

Frequently asked questions about nursing homes in County Durham

How is a care needs assessment arranged in County Durham?

Ask the adult social care team at Durham County Council for a care needs assessment, either by telephone or through the council's own referral route. Anyone who appears to need care can request one, and a family member, friend or attorney may do it on their behalf. If the person is in hospital, the discharge team normally begins the process, though it is sensible to confirm who is handling it and by when. There is no charge and no means test for the assessment itself, and the written outcome underpins both funding decisions and the choice of home.

Will Durham County Council pay towards a nursing home in County Durham?

It may, once a care needs assessment has established that nursing care is appropriate and a financial assessment has looked at capital and income. Where capital falls below the national upper threshold, Durham County Council contributes towards the weekly fee, and above it the placement is usually funded privately. Separately from any council support, NHS funded nursing care is paid towards the nursing element of the fee irrespective of savings. Where the primary need is a health need, NHS Continuing Healthcare can cover the placement in full, so it is worth asking whether that has been assessed.

Which nursing providers are registered in County Durham?

This page lists fifty six registered nursing homes, the complete set currently registered with the Care Quality Commission for this care type in County Durham. Among them are Aycliffe Care Home, Divine Care Centre, Thornfield Grange, St Margaret's Care Home and Leazes Hall Care Home, alongside three homes holding an Outstanding rating. Each profile states the provider name, the care type and the current rating. Opening a profile is the quickest way to establish what a home is registered to provide before you approach it.

How does a nursing home differ from a residential care home?

Both provide accommodation, meals, personal care and staff on duty around the clock. The distinguishing feature of a nursing home is a registered nurse based on the premises, which allows it to take on clinical needs such as wound management, catheter care, feeding tubes and complicated medication regimes. Every provider listed here is registered as a nursing home rather than a residential one. Where a person's needs are social and practical rather than medical, a residential home is generally the better fit and usually costs less each week.

When should a family start looking at nursing homes in County Durham?

Ideally as soon as nursing care becomes a realistic possibility rather than a certainty. A planned move allows weeks or months for assessments, repeat visits and a proper reading of inspection reports, which is the ideal position to be in. In practice many nursing placements are arranged within days of a hospital discharge, and that is precisely when earlier preparation pays off. Even a rough shortlist with fees confirmed will keep the decision in the family's hands rather than the ward's.

What questions should we ask on a visit to a nursing home in County Durham?

Begin with the nursing rota, because it is the whole reason for choosing this kind of home: how many registered nurses are on duty by day and overnight, and how often those shifts are covered by agency staff. Ask what happens clinically when somebody deteriorates at night and which health professionals visit regularly. Ask who writes and reviews the care plan and how quickly the family hears about a change. Finally, compare the answers with what you saw during a mealtime and in the parts of the building nobody chose to show you.

Other types of care in County Durham

Local care news in County Durham

More local care news for County Durham

Nursing homes near County Durham

Search for nursing homes in towns near County Durham.

Local authority support in County Durham

Durham County Council arranges and funds adult social care in this area. Use these official council links to check funding, request an assessment and get support.

Adult social care website Durham County Council

Council service pages 12 of 19

View full Durham County Council page

Guides for choosing a nursing home

Plain-English advice on choosing and paying for nursing homes.

Free care planning tools

Tools to help you understand your options, check funding eligibility, and plan ahead.

  • Personalised Assistant Answer a few questions and get a tailored list of suitable care homes.
  • Concierge Answer 13 questions about care needs, location, and preferences to receive a personalised shortlist of matched homes.
  • Funding Calculator Estimate how much care will cost and what financial support may be available.
  • CHC Assessment Check whether your relative may qualify for NHS Continuing Healthcare funding.
  • CHC DST Assessment Complete the Decision Support Tool used in NHS CHC funding assessments.
  • Map Explorer Browse care homes near you on an interactive map.

Provider information is sourced from the Care Quality Commission (CQC), last updated September 2026.