DELIGHTED staff at Edinburgh’s most exclusive care home are celebrating being scored highly by care regulators, just 18 months after it was created.

Purpose-built Cramond Residence only opened in October 2018 and was subjected to an unannounced, three-day check by Care Inspectorate experts in March.

Now the national watchdog has published its report, awarding the home four 5s and a 4 for its performance to date – where 5 is “very good” and 4 is “good”. The highest available score of 6 is considered “excellent”.

Eileen Gray, General Manager at Cramond Residence, said: “These results are great news for our residents and for their friends and family. What comes through repeatedly in the 10-page report is that this is a home where the residents are extremely safe.

“It’s also hugely gratifying that when the Inspectors sought the views of 13 residents and four relatives, the feedback was universally positive. Everyone told them how much they love it here.

“Of course, we aspire to score across-the-board 5s and 6s. In fact, that is the target we set ourselves to achieve after three years of operation.  However, building a team from scratch in the care sector is a huge challenge.

“For us to have scored so highly after just 18 months is a real testament to the entire team. I’m very proud of them and what they have achieved here in such a short space of time.”

Ms Gray, a highly experienced nurse who has worked in the care sector for over 30-years, said she and the rest of the team would now be taking on the Inspectorate’s advice on “areas for improvement” from the report and would be drawing up detailed action plans to implement.

She added: “We will never be complacent. No matter how good a care home is, the inspectors will always find room for improvement. Our team know that we must constantly be developing and improving.”

Cramond Residence can care for up to 74 older people and has a specialist dementia unit to care for those with an advanced stage of dementia. Each resident enjoys a luxury room with en-suite bathroom facilities. It maintains a care staff to resident ratio of at least 1:4 at all times.

Spread across three floors, it also adopts a small-group living philosophy. That means groups of eight rooms form distinct “houses”, where residents are encouraged to eat and socialise together. This is believed to have played a major role in infection control during the Coronavirus pandemic to date.

Ratings for the residence included a 5 for supporting people’s wellbeing and the report praised the organised events, intergenerational work with local schools, and the ability for residents to move about freely, building rich friendships and relationships.

It said: “We saw that care staff, administrators, ancillary and management teams knew people who lived there, which meant people felt secure and confident with staff who cared for them.”

The residence also scored a 5 for its leadership, noting: “We saw that the management team were settling in well and working well together. People who lived in the service and their relatives were confident that the service was well managed.”

Another 5 was awarded for the residences’ staffing, with the report stating: “It is important that people who used this service have confidence in the staff who care and support them. We saw the level of training, support and supervision most staff received. This showed that they were competent, skilled, and were able to reflect this in their practice, whilst keeping people safe.”

Likewise, the residence was scored a 5 for it’s purpose-built setting, which includes a cinema, gym, garden lounge, library, hairdressing salon, activity rooms, a physiotherapy room and even a private, fine-dining area for residents to use with friends and relatives.

Inspectors graded the residence a 4 for how well care and support is planned. While acknowledging Cramond Residence’s pioneering and easy-to-access electronic system for individual care plans, it suggested those plans should have a greater focus on measuring outcomes for residents.

However, the report went on: “We found that people who were supported by different organisations worked well together by sharing information, examples of these include, physiotherapists, pharmacists, podiatrists and GP’s, which was appropriate, confidential, and respectful.

“This meant that people who used this service could be confident that they received responsive care and support.”

Cramond Residence provides a combination of luxury accommodation and the highest quality of care. Set in a leafy location, it offers small group-living in nine houses, with all residents enjoying a wide range of amenities and activities, delicious food and bespoke care.

Places in the care home start from £1850 a week. To find out more, call 0131 341 4037 or visit https://cramondresidence.co.uk/

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