The Pines

Updated 18 July 2026

Date of assessment: 18 July – 1 August 2026.

The Pines is a care home providing personal care for up to 6 people with a learning disability and/or autistic people. At the time of our inspection 6 people were living at the service.

We visited the service on the 21 July 2026. We expect health and social care providers to guarantee people with a learning disability and autistic people respect, equality, dignity, choices and independence and good access to local communities that most people take for granted. ‘Right support, right care, right culture’ is the guidance CQC follows to make assessments and judgements about services supporting people with a learning disability and autistic people and providers must have regard to it.

People were supported by a staff team who consistently went above and beyond to improve thequality of carepeople received. Staff and leaders were extremely caring and knowledgeable about how best to communicate with people and to advocate for them to ensure their views were heard. There was a thriving culture within the service of treating people with dignity and respect; people and their relatives told us they were receiving an exceptionally caring service which had consistently exceeded their expectations. Comments included, “Without the registered manager’s quest for change, I don’t know we’d have ever got to a point where my relative can just enjoy and live their life,” and “The essence of who my relative is matters to the staff at The Pines.”

Staff understood people’s individualinterests, needs,wishesand desires and worked with them tirelessly to achieve these. Thisenabled people to beheard, acknowledged and promotedactive engagement in tasks of daily living. Staff told us they liked their work and felt proud of the lives they helped people achieve. Astaff member explained,“I can make a real difference to the people we support. I enjoy getting to know each resident, understanding their individual needs, and helping them live as comfortably and safely as possible. Being part of a caring team and supporting people with dignity makes me feel proud of my role.”

The provider partnered with several organisations to enhance support and remove barriers to positive risk taking related to protected characteristics, such as health conditions or sexuality. This increased opportunities for engagement in the community. The registered manager and provider valued partnership working with partners and agencies to promote independence in all aspects of life. Staff and leaders were proud of their “No blame culture”, approach when learning from adverse events, and told us, “We are committed to sector wide improvement to ensure people we support benefit from the latest evidence based approaches and best practice.”

People, relatives and visiting professionals had a high level of confidence in the registered manager of theserviceand told us the registered manager, “Is here to work with me in my home”, and “The registered manager is an incredibly supportive, hands-on manager who works right alongside us, not just from the office. They are a very good listener and communicate very clearly with everyone.”

Updated 18 July 2026

Overall people’s experience commentary People and their relatives told us staff were exceptionally kind and caring, always going above and beyond what is expected or imagined. A relative told us, “We were told once that ‘non-verbal’ means ‘can’t communicate feelings’ but staff at The Pines know our relative has big feelings, emotions and opinions. I know how clearly, they are expressed when I see my relative lean towards a preferred member of staff or reach out to hold a staff member’s hand.”

People were safe and their individuality and uniqueness encouraged and celebrated. A relative said, “The Pines is the only service my relative has ever called home. Before they would visit the family home but now, they have their own home to invite me to visit.”
People were supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives. Staff supported them in the least restrictive way possible and in their best interests. The policies and systems in the service supported this practice.

We used the Short Observational Framework for Inspection (SOFI). SOFI is a way of observing care to help us understand the experience of people who could not talk with us. We observed staff truly understood people’s individual ways of communicating and this enabled people to be listened to and supported in ways that met their specific and individual needs. One staff member said, “I have learned so much here at The Pines, and I feel I have grown into a better, more confident carer. I know that here, we treat everyone equally, we listen to them, we respect their dignity, and we always try our very best to keep them safe, happy and comfortable.” Another staff member told us, “You don’t have to talk to be heard at The Pines.”