The Pines CQC Outstanding Leadership Good Overall

We are absolutely thrilled to announce that following a recent inspection, the Care Quality Commission (CQC) has officially rated The Pines as ‘Good’ overall, with an ‘Outstanding’ rating in the ‘Well-led’ category.

The recent assessment evaluated our service against the CQC’s ‘Right support, right care, right culture‘ guidance.

The findings reflect the team’s unwavering commitment to ensuring that the people they support— adults with learning disabilities and autism —are guaranteed the respect, equality, dignity, choices, and independence they deserve.

Ian Addicoat, Registered Manager

What the CQC Found

The report highlighted numerous areas where the team is making a real difference in the lives of the people living at The Pines:

An ‘Outstanding’ Culture: The CQC praised our shared values, noting that our culture is focused on supporting people to simply have a “good day”. They highlighted how our management and staff provide highly personalised, flexible support that adapts to people’s changing needs on a daily basis. The integration of an in-house Behaviour Analyst to help staff understand each individual’s specific needs was also commended.
Safe and Empowering Environments: We achieved ‘Good’ ratings for being Safe, Effective, Caring, and Responsive. The inspectors observed that our staff understand how to manage risks while actively supporting people to access their local community, perfectly balancing choice, independence, and safety.
Compassionate, Person-Centred Care: The inspectors saw firsthand that people living at The Pines are involved in day-to-day decisions about how they spend their time. The report beautifully noted that our team members interact with people using “warmth, humour and compassion”.

Praise from the Families

A most rewarding part of the CQC report is the phenomenal feedback provided by the families of the people we support. Hearing their experiences truly validates the hard work we do every day. One relative told the inspectors, “Staff are very accommodating. I couldn’t think of a better place for [their relative] to be“ while another praised the dedication of our team, noting, “The key worker is very involved, very proactive. They don’t just give up but say, ‘Let’s try that again’.

Achieving a ‘Good’ overall rating—with an ‘Outstanding’ in leadership—is no easy feat; it is the result of the consistent, person-centred care delivered day-in-day-out.

Congratulations to Ian, Damien and the whole team at the Pines for achieving this result.