- Residential substance misuse service
Littledale Hall Therapeutic Community
Assessment report published 11 August 2026
Contents
Ratings - Substance misuse services
Our view of the service
Date of assessment: 3 and 4 February 2026
Littledale Hall Therapeutic Community is a 33-bed residential substance misuse service. It offers psychosocial rehabilitation services to individuals with substance misuse and addiction problems. The service provides treatment to men and women over the age of 18. The service does not offer detoxification programmes. All clients undergo detoxification or are free from illicit substances before admission.
The service is registered to provide accommodation of persons who require treatment for substance misuse. The service had a registered manager in post at the time of the inspection.
This location had been registered with CQC since December 2010. At our previous inspection in November 2019, the service was rated good overall with the well-led key question rated requires improvement and all other key questions as good.
The reason for this assessment was due to the age of the previous ratings. We reviewed all quality statements across all five key questions at this assessment.
We rated the service as good.
The service was generally safe, clean, well equipped and fit for purpose. Staff assessed and managed risks to clients and themselves well. Staff treated clients with compassion and kindness. They respected clients’ privacy and dignity. They understood the individual needs of clients and supported clients to understand and manage their care, treatment or condition. Staff helped clients with communication, and cultural and spiritual support. The service treated concerns and complaints seriously, investigated them and learned lessons from the results. Leaders had the skills, knowledge and experience to perform their roles. Staff felt respected, supported and valued. Performance and risk were managed well.
However, there were some areas of the environment that required maintenance and some infection prevention and control issues identified. Handover notes within the service did not always provide clear updates on outstanding issues or incidents that had occurred. Governance process did not always operate as effectively or robustly as required. There were gaps in some documentation and governance processes where recording and completion were not always robust or ensured the service had appropriate oversight.
We identified a breach of regulation in relation to governance in the service.
We have asked the provider for an action plan in response to the concerns found at this inspection.
People's experience of this service
We spoke with 7 current clients and 2 former clients. Clients spoke very highly of the service. Clients stated that staff were caring and respectful towards them. Clients felt involved in their care and that they had a voice within the service. Clients understood the requirements and expectations of the service and believed that staff were “firm but fair” in how they managed this. Clients described staff as “connected and compassionate” and that staff “really care”.
Some of the clients who had recently been admitted to the service gave positive feedback about how they were welcomed and supported on their arrival. They felt this had helped them to be more open and comfortable with sharing their experiences.
Clients praised the group work they took part in within the service. Clients felt the service was meeting the expectations that they had before arriving. Clients noted that the close working relationship between the service and a local GP was beneficial to them.
Former clients gave positive feedback about the aftercare provided by the service. They praised the impact that the service had on their lives, with both describing that the service “had saved their lives”.