Top marks for Aberdeenshire Care at Home team

The Care Inspectorate recently undertook an unannounced inspection of the North Aberdeenshire Care at Home Service and the team got ‘Very Good’ marks across all inspected areas.

The inspector undertook visits with Home Carers over seven days and spoke to 24 people who use the service and their families.

The inspector found that 'there were significant strengths in aspects of the care provided’ and that this ‘supported positive outcomes for people’.

One service user said that the staff were ‘just toppers’ and the inspector found that staff were professional, polite and kind and that ‘staff were mindful of being in people’s homes’.

​The Care at Home team received a glowing report from Inspectors.

The inspector also found that the approach that the service and staff take to enable people to do as much for themselves as possible was very positive and had been communicated to people well. The inspector felt that this ‘demonstrated a service that was determined to help people retain skills and for them to remain as independent as possible’.

Linda Wood, Manager for the service said: “I am absolutely delighted that the hard work the North Homecare team does every day has been recognised. It is a real boost to know that the people we support value us and that we are doing good work to help keep people independent and happy at home for as long as we can.

"In social care it is our staff that are the biggest asset, and without them and their incredible skill and compassion we wouldn’t be able to do any of the good work that we do. I am really, really proud of them all”.

Chair of the Aberdeenshire Integration Joint Board (IJB), Cllr Anne Stirling, said: “This is so well deserved. Our Home Care Teams are absolutely vital, and it is so heartening to know that they have been recognized and that they are performing so well.

“I was particularly happy to see that we our staff are able to build trusting relationships with the people they support and that they have the time and space to take their time and ‘have a chat’. Relationships are the bedrock of great social care, and I am really proud of the work the teams do to support people each and every day.”