Sheltered housing tenants praise a “dedicated” OIC staff team, say Inspectors

Tenants using the Council’s sheltered housing service at Lambaness and Rae’s Close have praised a “dedicated” staff team who support them, according to the Care Inspectorate. 

An unannounced visit of Lambaness in Kirkwall and Rae’s Close in Stromness was carried out by an Inspector between 7-9 January.  

Four areas were evaluated: supporting people’s wellbeing; leadership; the staff team; and care and support planning – all were rated as “good.” 

Key messages: 

People benefited from a dedicated staff team familiar with their needs and preferences. 

People spoke highly of the staff who support them. 

Management were recruiting additional staff. 

Quality assurance and improvement was well led. 

Personal plans set out people’s needs and preferences. 

The Inspector found a strong sense of community within the sheltered housing service which, in turn, helped people feel valued and gave a sense of belonging. 

The report stated: “Tenants told us about a small team of dedicated staff who supported them. People spoke highly of the staff. One person told us ‘The staff are really good and do whatever they can for me’. Overall, families of people supported were positive about the service provided. A relative told us, ‘The staff are good’ and ‘they contact us if needed.’ This meant that families felt well informed.  

“The service worked well with external agencies to promote people's wellbeing. People benefited from social events in shared lounge areas. Tenants enjoyed weekly coffee mornings which helped establish and maintain relationships with other people. We heard about additional events such as meals out. This promoted wellbeing and a sense of belonging.” 

Despite some frustration around staff availability at times, with recruitment remaining a challenge, the service was working to resolve this, and tenants reassured the inspector that they were informed about staff absence in advance where possible. The service had also introduced contingency measures, such as contact calls from the management and office team and the availability of the responder service to support with emergency situations if required. 

The Inspector added: “The service benefitted from a small and stable staff team. Staff were clear about their roles and responsibilities. Staff supported each other in response to changing situations to ensure support was consistent where possible. Staff spoke positively about the training they received. This promoted a culture of continuous learning and improvement.” 

The Inspector rated the leadership as “good” highlighting that staff felt listened to by their manager and tenant participation meetings and feedback meant they were “meaningfully” involved in shaping the development of their support service. 

The Inspector stated: “A quality assurance system supported a culture of continuous improvement. A range of audits assessed the quality of the service and compliance with expected standards. Action plans were revisited to ensure that corrective actions had been taken if needed. We shared ways in which the improvement plan could be further developed. The management team were receptive to suggested improvements and demonstrated a commitment to develop the service.” 

How well the care and support was planned at Lambaness and Raes Close was also rated “good” with the Inspector stating that personal plans were person-centred and gave very good direction to staff about people’s support need and planned interventions. 

The report added: “Staff told us they knew people well and could respond to a change in their wellbeing. Personal plans were developed in partnership with people receiving support. Where needs changed personal plans were updated. All plans had been reviewed in last six months to ensure they reflected people's current needs. This helped to ensure that planned support interventions remained relevant.” 

The Management Team acknowledged that more work was required around the level of detail included in tenant's personal plans. 

Chair of the Education, Leisure and Housing Committee, Councillor Gwenda Shearer, said: “I am very pleased to see a positive Care Inspection report coming from our sheltered housing service who support some of our more vulnerable members of the community. 

“I know a considerable amount of work across the service by wardens and managers has been key to these improvements and the Inspection report gives me confidence that further enhancements will be made.” 

The report is available at www.careinspectorate.com