Published Wednesday 22 April 2026 at 12:47
St Aidan’s short breaks service has been rated ‘good’ by the Care Quality Commission following a comprehensive assessment during February and March, including inspection visits.
The service based in the Mill Hill area of Blackburn provides short break and respite accommodation for people living with learning disabilities, accommodating up to six people at a time.
The Care Quality Commission (CQC) assessed the service against their ‘Right support, Right care, Right culture’ guidance, to ascertain whether people with learning disabilities are shown respect, dignity, independence, and given choices and access to local communities.
Inspectors found that St Aidan’s guests experience kindness, care and compassion. Staff were observed to have positive and meaningful relationships with guests with high levels of need, making efforts to get to know them well as individuals.
The report says:
“The provider always treated people with kindness, empathy and compassion and respected their privacy and dignity.”
This results in person-centred care, with St Aidan’s regularly reviewing health, care, wellbeing and communication needs to maximise the effectiveness of the care they provide, and to keep people safe.
The inspectors’ report praises staff who fully understand individuals’ communication styles and how they express their feelings and emotions.
Guests and their families said they are made to feel welcome at St Aidan’s.
Inspectors praised the management of St Aidan’s as “consistently managed and well-led… Leaders and the culture they created promoted high-quality, person-centred care.”
The reports also recognises the strong working relationships between St Aidan’s staff and health professionals which help to support residents’ individual needs and high standards of care.
Families had only positive feedback to share with the CQC inspection team, with one person stating: “I’m generally very, very happy with everything… I feel relaxed when [name] stays there, happy and confident”.
The inspection in February and March 2026 was the first time St Aidan’s had undergone a full inspection since 2017, when it also achieved a ‘good’ rating from CQC. A light-touch inspection was carried out in 2022.
Mark Warren, Strategic Director of Adults and Health at Blackburn with Darwen Council, said:
We’re delighted to retain the ‘good’ rating for St Aidan’s. I’m immensely proud of the inspectors’ views on the staff team at St Aidan’s and the care, respect and compassion they show to all guests – and the inspection outcome reflects their hard work.
We understand how difficult it can be for families to entrust their loved ones to a care service, and it was fantastic to hear relatives say that they feel happy and confident that they are safe in St Aidan’s.
As with all our regulated services, we strive for outstanding. We will use the CQC’s findings to improve further.
In order to continually improve the service to our residents, we continue to update our approaches as part of a wider review and transformation of our provider services. We will ensure we build on the person-centred, compassionate services at St Aidan’s to deliver outstanding care to local residents with complex needs.
Filed under : Adult Social Care | CQC | inspection