Is it safe?
GoodWhat the CQC looked for
Evidence that “people were protected from abuse and avoidable harm”.
What it found
“This meant people were safe and protected from avoidable harm.”
Care Quality Commission
Rated Good by the CQC
The Care Quality Commission is the independent regulator of health and social care in England. It assessed us between 17 June 2026 and 23 July 2026, speaking to the people we support, their families and our carers, and reading our records.
It rated us Good overall, and Good in all five of the areas it looks at.
Report published 9 September 2026 on www.cqc.org.uk (opens in a new tab).
That badge comes straight from the CQC and updates itself.
The five areas
Good in every one
The CQC asks the same five questions of every care service in England. Here is what it looked for in each, and what it found, in its own words.
Is it effective?
GoodWhat the CQC looked for
Evidence that “people’s care, treatment, and support achieved good outcomes and promoted a good quality of life, based on best available evidence”.
What it found
“This meant people’s outcomes were consistently good, and people’s feedback confirmed this.”
Is it caring?
GoodWhat the CQC looked for
Evidence that “the provider involved people and treated them with compassion, kindness, dignity, and respect”.
What it found
“This meant people were supported and treated with dignity and respect and involved as partners in their care.”
Is it responsive?
GoodWhat the CQC looked for
Evidence that “the provider met people’s needs”.
What it found
“This meant people’s needs were met through good organisation and delivery.”
Is it well-led?
GoodWhat the CQC looked for
Evidence that “service leadership, management and governance assured high-quality, person-centred care; supported learning and innovation; and promoted an open, fair culture”.
What it found
“This meant the service was consistently managed and well-led. Leaders and the culture they created promoted high-quality, person-centred care.”
Overall
Good
This was our first assessment since we registered in 2022. Read every section of the report (opens in a new tab)
In the report
What people told the inspectors
As part of the assessment, the CQC spoke with the people we support and their relatives. These are their words, as the CQC recorded them.
“They are a lovely little service.”
- “They are lovely and caring”
- “If I had a concern, they would sort it out”
- “I feel involved in my care”
All four quoted from the “People’s experience of this service” section of the report.
The ratings
What the four grades mean
Every service is graded on each of the five questions, and then overall.
Outstanding
Performing exceptionally well.
Good
Performing well and meeting the CQC's expectations.
This is us
Requires improvement
Not performing as well as it should.
Inadequate
Performing badly, and the CQC takes action.
A rating is an assessment, not an endorsement. The CQC does not recommend providers, and nobody can be “CQC approved”. Anyone telling you otherwise is worth a second look.
PAMMS is a different thing entirely
We are also PAMMS rated Excellent. PAMMS stands for Provider Assessment and Market Management Solution, and it is run by Cheshire West and Chester Council, not by the CQC. Councils use it to assess the providers they place people with.
We keep the two apart on this website on purpose. They are separate bodies doing separate assessments, and plenty of care websites blur them into one badge in a way that makes a council review look like a regulator’s verdict.
Check us, and anyone else, yourself
Every registered care service in England has a public CQC page showing its rating, its reports and any action taken against it. You do not have to take our word for any of this, and you should not take anyone else’s either.
One thing worth knowing: the CQC lists us under the name of our office, The Brocken. If you search for Brighter Days Companions you will find the company page, and the rating sits one click further in, under The Brocken.
Our rating on cqc.org.uk (opens in a new tab)Start with a free visit, not a commitment
We come out, meet you at home and talk through what would actually help. There is no charge for the visit and no obligation at the end of it.