Highland care service Cantray Square, which is based at Cantraybridge College, receives strong praise from Care Inspectorate following surprise inspection
A housing support and care at home service has received strong praise during a recent inspection.
The Cantray Square service, which is based at Cantraybridge College in Croy, received several "very good" ratings following a surprise inspection by the Care Inspectorate back in May.
It provides a service to people who have additional support needs and many of those who use the service stay in their own flat or house at Cantray Square, or in various locations in the Inverness and Nairn areas.
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Following the inspection a newly-published report gave it "very good" ratings for how well it supports people's wellbeing, how good its staff team is, and how well it plans its care and support.
“Very good” is the second highest rating it is possible to achieve.
The service also received a "good" for the strength of its leadership.
Not only did it receive "very good" or "good" ratings across the board, the service was also on an improving trajectory, with inspectors noting that "areas of discord with staffing" noticed during the previous inspection had been remedied after "the leadership team had put in place actions to address this".
In its findings, the Care Inspectorate said: "We observed kind, caring and supportive interactions between staff and people using this service.
"Staff had a person-centred approach to the care and support provided. This showed that people experienced warm, compassionate and nurturing care and support.
"It was encouraging to see that there has been a recent focus on healthy eating, mental health, and wellbeing. People supported by the service spoke positively about the recently introduced fitness class and other well-being activities."
Elsewhere, the inspectors noted that a "comprehensive quality assurance system" had been put in place since the previous inspection.
"Plans were in place to develop a more responsive service improvement plan that detailed the future of the service and reflected the views of people who used the service.
"The service had been aware that this was an area requiring development and identified it as a priority for the Chief Executive Officer, who was new to post."
Looking at the strength of the staff team, the inspectors added: "Staff told us that there had been positive changes to practice to support people's health and wellbeing, with the development of more strategies to support people and training opportunities.
"All staff we spoke with said they had regular supervision, felt supported to undertake their role and were confident in their responsibilities."
And on the planning of care and support, the inspectors said: "The support plans we viewed were reflective of what people had told us they wished to do in both the present and future.
"People told us they had been fully involved in making decisions about their care and support, and we found evidence that their own individual preferences and wishes were taken into consideration when making support plans or during reviews."
Although the report was overwhelmingly positive, it did make some recommendations. The inspectors said that although staff had undertaken the relevant medication training for their roles, there was a "lack of follow-up with competency checks" to ensure best practice was being maintained, They recommended that Cantray Square ensure regular competency observations.
Another recommendation was for the service to ensure any incidents, accidents, causes for concern and staff absences are notified to the Care Inspectorate in line with its notification guides.
They added that the service provider should also ensure staff have undertaken all training appropriate to their role.
And they said that Cantray Square should also make sure information and documentation is in place and up to date to ensure people's wishes are followed and their independence promoted "whenever possible".
To read the full report, visit and search for Cantray Square, or download it directly here.