River Clyde Homes’ sheltered housing service has received its most positive report ever following a recent unannounced visit from the Care Inspectorate.

The Inverclyde-based housing association manages eight sheltered housing complexes, totalling 254 homes: providing accommodation for service users who are in accommodation for residents who are frail and/or mobility impaired.

The Care Inspectorate gave the Quality of Care and Support service a 6 grade of ‘excellent and rated the Quality of Staffing and Quality of Management & Leadership with a ‘very good’ mark of 5.

The report states: “Residents are encouraged and supported to lead independent, fulfilling lives and the staff team work hard to provide a safe service that enhances each individual’s health, wellbeing and quality of life.

“Residents and their families have high levels of satisfaction with the quality of the overall service provided to them and their involvement continues to be promoted and supported to an excellent standard in meaningful ways.”

In conclusion, the Care Inspectorate said: “There have been significant improvements and initiatives that have resulted in positive experiences and outcomes for residents and their families as detailed throughout this report.”

While no requirements were made, there were a couple of recommendations for improvement in relation to staff recruitment and recording of information within the personal plans.

Lynn Wassell, chair of the River Clyde Homes board, welcomed the report, saying: “This is a well-deserved report for our much valued sheltered housing service. The grades show an improvement on the previous inspection of 2013 and underline the focus, energy and drive of our staff to meet the support needs of residents and build meaningful relationships. This is just one example of how River Clyde Homes is improving services to meet our customers’ expectations.”

Jane Wallace, ExtraCare manager at River Clyde Homes, said: “We’re all delighted with the outcome of this recent inspection. It shows that the service is improving and that there are very high levels of satisfaction with the team involved in all aspects of the complexes. My thanks go to all the staff and to the residents and their family members who gave of their time to participate in the inspection. We have taken on board the comments made by the Inspectorate and a service improvement plan has been prepared.”

The report reflects the thoughts of residents at John Galt House who value the services they provide.

Margaret Hamill said: “Our wardens are excellent – always helpful. I’d be lost if I wasn’t in John Galt House, they look after our needs and help give us a social life.”

Ken Quinn mirrored Margaret’s thoughts, saying: “I’ve always been made to feel welcome here. It’s a great place to live, everyone is so friendly and the social activities help fill my day.”

Jimmy Grant added: “The accommodation is comfortable, the staff helpful and above all the communication is great which means I always know what’s going on.”

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