Cantray Square support service near Inverness given upbeat report by inspectors
Register for free to read more of the latest local news. It's easy and will only take a moment.
A RURAL care service has achieved Very Good ratings for quality of support for people’s wellbeing and quality of leadership following a three-day visit by inspectors.
Cantray Square Housing Support Service at Cantraybridge College near Croy caters for young adults with additional support needs.
Many of those which the service supports stay in their own flat or house at Cantray Square while others live elsewhere in the Inverness and Nairn areas.
The Care Inspectorate found that service users were very happy and there was a very positive and relaxed atmosphere.
They also found:
n Support provided made a big difference to people.
n Staff and management were knowledgeable, caring and kind.
n People had a lot of say and involvement in how the service was provided.
However, they also reported that some improvement is needed in how training is organised and that quality assurance systems could be made more robust.
To evaluate quality of leadership and how well people’s wellbeing was supported, the inspector used a six point scale where 1 is unsatisfactory and 6 is excellent. Very Good rates a 5.
The report stated: “We evaluated the service as very good at supporting positive outcomes for people. There were major strengths and very few areas to improve in.
“People were very well supported with their health and wellbeing. Staff had a relaxed, friendly manner and people were comfortable in their company.
“People could also occasionally experience some stress or upset in their lives. Staff had a very good understanding of this and knew how to appropriately support a person in a way that individually suited them.”
Similarly, regarding leadership, inspectors found many strengths with only a few areas needing to improve.
“The service fully understood the importance of people’s involvement and contribution for their own care and support decisions and planning,” they said.
“Communication within the service was very good. Staff were insightful into people’s needs and wishes and they had regular opportunities to speak with other staff and senior staff about people. The management had an active and engaged presence within the service.”
They added: “Useful and important information about how well the service was performing was not always easy to find. Better ways for storing and organising information would be beneficial.” The quality assurance officer recognised that some further improvements were needed.”
