Pinehurst Care Home

What families say

Families describe finding real comfort here during challenging times. The atmosphere feels welcoming and settled, with staff who understand that supporting a resident means supporting their loved ones too.

Based on 5 Google reviews · 0 reviews on carehome.co.uk · most recent 2026-04-10

The eight family priority themes

• Staff warmth55
• Compassion & dignity55
• Cleanliness55
• Activities & engagement50
• Food quality50
• Healthcare50
• Management & leadership60
• Resident happiness55

What inspectors found

Inspected 2021-05-15 · Report published 2021-05-15 · Inspected 2 times in the last three years

• Is this home safe?

  Good

  {"found":"The Safe domain was rated Good at the April 2021 inspection, up from the previous Requires Improvement rating. This covers staffing levels, medicines management, safeguarding, and infection control. The published report does not include specific observations, ratios, or examples to show what changed between the two inspections. The improvement itself is a positive indicator that concerns identified previously were addressed. No ongoing safety concerns were flagged at the July 2023 monitoring review.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"A move from Requires Improvement to Good in Safety is genuinely encouraging, because it means inspectors found evidence that earlier problems had been resolved. However, the published text gives no detail about what those earlier problems were or what specific improvements were made. Good Practice evidence from the IFF Research and Leeds Beckett review highlights that night staffing is the period where safety most commonly slips in care homes, and that high agency staff use undermines the consistency that people living with dementia rely on. Neither of those areas is addressed in the published findings, so these are the most important questions to ask directly.","evidence_base":"The Good Practice evidence base identifies that learning from incidents, rather than simply recording them, is one of the clearest markers of a genuinely safe care home. Ask the manager to describe a recent incident and what changed as a result.","watch_out":"Ask the manager to show you the actual staffing rota from last week, not the template. Count how many shifts were covered by permanent staff and how many by agency workers, and ask specifically how many staff are on duty overnight for the 23 residents."}

  Verified by inspectorMentioned, not assessed

• Is the care effective?

  Good

  {"found":"The Effective domain was rated Good at the April 2021 inspection. This domain covers training, care planning, healthcare access, nutrition, and how well staff understand and meet individual needs. The published report provides no specific detail about dementia training content, how care plans are written or reviewed, GP access arrangements, or what food is like at the home. The Good rating indicates inspectors were satisfied with standards in these areas, but the evidence behind that conclusion is not visible in the published text.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"Dementia is listed as a specialism at this home, which means inspectors would have expected to see evidence of dementia-specific training and care planning. Our Good Practice evidence base, drawn from 61 studies, highlights that care plans need to function as living documents updated after any change in a resident's condition, not as paperwork filed away at admission. For a 23-bed home, the relatively small size can work in your parent's favour: staff are more likely to know individuals well. But the inspection findings alone cannot confirm whether care plans here are genuinely personalised or whether dementia training goes beyond basic mandatory modules. Food quality is one of the most concrete signals of genuine care, mentioned positively in 20.9% of family reviews, yet nothing about food at this home appears in the published report.","evidence_base":"The IFF Research and Leeds Beckett rapid evidence review found that regular, meaningful GP access and timely referrals to specialist services are among the strongest predictors of good health outcomes for people living with dementia in residential care.","watch_out":"Ask to see an example care plan (anonymised if needed) and ask when it was last updated and who was involved in updating it. Then ask how often the GP visits the home and what the process is for raising a health concern between scheduled visits."}

  Verified by inspector

• Is this home caring?

  Good

  {"found":"The Caring domain was rated Good at the April 2021 inspection, covering staff warmth, dignity, respect, and support for independence. This is the domain that most directly reflects day-to-day interactions between staff and the people they care for. The published report contains no direct inspector observations of staff behaviour, no resident or relative quotes, and no specific examples of how dignity is protected in practice. The Good rating indicates the inspection team was satisfied, but what they saw is not described.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"Staff warmth is the single biggest driver of family satisfaction in our review data, mentioned in 57.3% of positive family reviews, and compassion and dignity account for a further 55.2%. These are not abstract qualities: they show up in whether staff knock before entering a room, whether they use your parent's preferred name, and whether they move at your parent's pace rather than their own. The inspection confirms these standards were met, but gives you nothing specific to compare against. For a small 23-bed home, the culture of care often comes from the top, which makes the stability of the registered manager one of the most important things to explore on a visit.","evidence_base":"Good Practice research highlights that non-verbal communication matters as much as spoken words for people living with dementia. Staff who make eye contact, sit at the same level, and allow silences without filling them are demonstrating person-led care in its most practical form.","watch_out":"Arrive a few minutes early for your visit and watch how staff interact with residents in unscripted moments, in corridors, at the entrance, or during a meal. Notice whether staff use residents' preferred names and whether they pause rather than hurry."}

  Verified by inspectorResident testimony recorded

• Is the home responsive?

  Good

  {"found":"The Responsive domain was rated Good at the April 2021 inspection. This covers activities, individual engagement, how well the home adapts to each person's needs, complaints handling, and end-of-life care. No specific details about the activities programme, individual engagement for people with advanced dementia, or complaints processes were published. The improvement from the previous Requires Improvement rating suggests issues in this area were addressed, but the nature of those issues and the solutions are not described.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"Activities and resident happiness matter significantly to families: 21.4% of positive family reviews specifically mention activities, and 27.1% mention residents appearing content and engaged. For people living with dementia, the evidence is clear that group activities alone are not enough: individuals who cannot join a group need one-to-one engagement, and familiar everyday tasks such as folding, sorting, or gardening can provide comfort and continuity. Nothing in the published report tells you whether this home provides that level of individual attention. The small size of the home (23 beds) means there is at least the potential for staff to know each resident as an individual, but you need to ask directly.","evidence_base":"The Good Practice evidence base identifies Montessori-based and task-focused individual engagement as particularly effective for people with moderate to advanced dementia. The key question is not whether activities exist, but whether they are adapted to the person in front of the staff member that day.","watch_out":"Ask the activities coordinator (or the senior carer responsible for activities) to describe what happened yesterday for a resident who struggles to join group sessions. If the answer is vague, that tells you something important."}

  Verified by inspector

• Is the home well-led?

  Good

  {"found":"The Well-led domain was rated Good at the April 2021 inspection, up from Requires Improvement at the previous inspection. A named registered manager, Mrs Brenda Parmiter, and a named nominated individual, Mr Joseph Callum Ben Phipps, are recorded. The improvement across all five domains from the previous inspection suggests the leadership team drove meaningful change. The published report does not describe the manager's visibility, how staff are supported, how governance systems work, or how the home responds to concerns raised by families.","quotes":[],"family_meaning":"Improving from Requires Improvement to Good across every domain at the same inspection is a strong indicator of effective leadership: it requires sustained effort across staffing, care planning, safety, and culture simultaneously. Good Practice research consistently identifies leadership stability as one of the strongest predictors of quality over time. A home whose manager changes frequently often loses the progress made under inspection conditions. The named registered manager has been in post as recorded at the time of inspection, but the 2021 inspection date means more than four years have passed since these findings were confirmed. Asking about manager tenure and any significant staffing changes since 2021 is one of the most important questions you can ask.","evidence_base":"The IFF Research and Leeds Beckett evidence review found that homes where staff feel able to raise concerns without fear, and where managers act visibly on those concerns, consistently outperform peers on care quality over time.","watch_out":"Ask the manager directly how long they have been in post and whether the staffing team has remained stable since the 2021 inspection. Ask also what the current occupancy level is and whether it has changed significantly, since rapid occupancy growth can place pressure on a small home's culture."}

  Verified by inspector

Source: CQC inspection report →

What the evidence base says

Against the DCC Good Practice in Dementia Care standards, this home’s evidence aligns most strongly on Pinehurst provides specialist care for adults over 65, with particular expertise in dementia support.. Gaps or open questions remain on The home welcomes residents living with dementia, providing the structured environment and consistent care routines that help people feel secure as their condition progresses. — areas worth probing directly during a visit.