Renfrewshire housing support service receives "very good" inspection report

A Renfrewshire service that provides housing support and care at home for people who have a learning disability has received a positive report following an inspection.

Two inspectors from the Care Inspectorate made an unannounced visit over two days to McFarlane Trust Limited based in Paisley.

The service provides care to some people 24 hours per day in houses of multiple occupancy and to others in single tenancies across Renfrewshire, East Renfrewshire and Inverclyde.

Based on a scale of one to six where one is unsatisfactory and six is excellent, it was rated as five – meaning very good for ‘how well they support people’s wellbeing’ and for their ‘staff team’.

Among its key messages, the report by the inspectors stated: “People living at the service enjoy a range of activities and taking part in the things that are important to them.

“The service actively seeks the views of people and their families to inform the support people receive and that staff are caring, committed and work well as team.”

To prepare for the inspection, the Care Inspectorate reviewed information about the service.

This included previous inspection findings, registration details, information submitted by the service and intelligence gathered since the last inspection.

In making its evaluations of the service, the Care Inspectorate spoke with three people using the service and four of their family members, spoke with 10 staff and management and observed practice and daily life at the facility.

During the visit, the watchdog noted they saw “warm, caring and encouraging relationships between staff and people who used the service”.

The people the inspectors spoke to and their relatives told them that they were well supported and cared for.

One family member said: “We’re over the moon with the level of care and support our relative receives.”

The watchdog states that the way people spend their time should be purposeful and promote feelings of wellbeing.

During their visit last month, they viewed evidence of people experiencing and enjoying activities, including experiencing activities which were new to them.

Another positive was that medication management was “well managed” and management had good oversight of this. The report added: “Staff were knowledgeable about the reasons medication was being administered. We saw that medications were being given timeously and this was accurately recorded.”

The facilities staff team was also praised by the visiting inspectors. They noted staffing numbers at the services and rotas showed that staffing levels were appropriate to meet the needs of people living in the service.

Within the report, it stated: “People using the service and staff benefit from a pleasant and friendly atmosphere because there were good working relationships amongst staff.

“Staff we spoke to told us they enjoyed working in small teams as this enabled good communication with colleagues allowing good teamwork.

“This meant there were opportunities for discussion about work and how best to improve outcomes for people they support.”

Staff also told the inspectors they benefitted from a supportive and approachable management team and helpful colleagues who were readily available for advice and support.

McFarlane Trust Limited Housing Support Service is based in the town’s Seedhill Road.

The support provided by the company ranges from direct physical support to support with maintaining a tenancy.

Due to the advancing age of some of the people supported, this also includes end of life care.

The service was supporting 41 people at the time of the inspection.

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