The Edinburgh Mental Health Service provides housing support and care at home to 180 people experiencing mental ill health across Edinburgh. Support packages vary according to the individual’s needs and include practical, social, and emotional support either in the person’s home or in the community.

The report said: “Staff were clear about the organisation’s values to be inclusive and to treat people with compassion, dignity, and respect. They talked with fondness and respect about the people they supported and were committed to supporting them to achieve their potential.

“It was clear that longer-term staff had built effective, supportive relationships with people and more recently employed staff had mentors who promoted equality, diversity, and valuing people for their individuality. We observed caring and compassionate interactions with people and their support workers.”

The inspector contacted service users to gather their thoughts on their experiences. One said: “My support worker is absolutely amazing – I can talk to them and have a great relationship with them. We do things together – couldn’t ask for better support.”

The report is broken down into two categories rated from one to six:

• How well do we support people’s well-being? 5 – “Very Good.”
• How good is our leadership? 5 – “Very Good.”

Sarah Smith, CEO of LinkLiving and Link Group’s Communities Director, said: “I am absolutely delighted staff at our Edinburgh Mental Health Service have received such glowing recognition of their work by the Care Inspectorate.

“It is particularly pleasing to read the first-hand feedback from service users who are so positive about the support they receive. I’m also thrilled to see inspectors recognise that feedback from staff and service users is being taken on board by our management teams. I really hope this inspection encourages our staff to go from strength to strength to ensure the service offered continues to be of the highest quality and aligns to our organisation’s values.”