Albyn Housing Society provide a housing support service to people who are homeless or potentially homeless, and who need help with keeping a tenancy in Inverness, Dingwall and Nairn. Many of our supported service users are our own tenants, but some are also tenants of other landlords, or are in temporary accommodation such as bed and breakfast, waiting to get a home of their own.

As a provider of housing support, this service has to be regulated and inspected by the Care Commission – The Care Commission was set up by the government in 2001 to regulate and inspect all care services in Scotland. It makes sure that services are complying with regulations and working to the National Care Standards.

Our Support Service had it’s first Care Commission inspection on 29^th November! This was the end of a long process of getting ready by the staff and our service users, in which policies and procedures were brought up to date, information was prepared and updated for our service users, and a Pre-Inspection return was filled in and sent to the Care Commission.

The Care Commission also asked users of the service if, and how they would like to share their views about the service they get from us. Some of our service users were able to make the appointment to speak to the Care Commission Officer, and others returned questionnaires. Staff also had a meeting with the Care Commissioner to share their views about the service. Our thanks to everyone that took part in the inspection and made it such a positive experience.

The comments from users of the service were generally very positive and comments particularly were made about:

• the clarity and usefulness of written information we provide to people who want to use the service
• the helpfulness and quality of support given by our staff

The Care Commissioner gave us verbal feedback about the inspection on 7^th December and we received his draft report just after Christmas. The feedback was also very positive and he made some suggestions for slight improvements to the information we give to prospective clients and for the training we give to staff, most of which have already been put into place since our inspection. Housing and Community Service Director, Helen Barton said, ‘Our housing support service is relatively new compared to other activities that Albyn Housing Society carries out. We have done internal audits, but this is the first external inspection that has taken place. Getting the service up and running has not always been an easy process, and I am delighted that the Care Commission have given us such a positive first report. The team have worked very hard to make the service effective for the people who use it. We are always looking for ways that we can improve and welcome the Care Commission’s suggestions. We are all also very pleased to get such positive recognition for our progress so far.’

The full report was published in February. It is available for you to read at David Whyte House. You can also get your own copy of the report by contacting Support Services on 01463 712516, or from the Care Commission website at www.carecommision.com.

Our support services team are now preparing for a comprehensive review in April by The Highland Council’s Supporting People team who provide our funding.