Families have been full of praise for a National Autistic Society service, near Catrine, following a recent Care Inspectorate visit.

Catrine Bank, on the outskirts of the village, provide a housing support and care at home service for up to 29 people, aged 16 years and over, who have an autistic spectrum disorder.

At the time of the unannounced inspection, the service was supporting 20 people, living in a combination of self contained or shared living accommodation.

Carried out by two inspectors, the report was completed over four days, and included speaking with service users, family members of service users and staff.

Cumnock Chronicle: Service users and staff buried time capsules at the National Autistic Society Scotland’s centre in Catrine.Service users and staff buried time capsules at the National Autistic Society Scotland’s centre in Catrine. (Image: National Autistic Society)

A key message from the report was that the service had a culture of person-centred care, with staff demonstrating their knowledge of people and their support requirements.

Inspectors said that, during their observations, they saw people have fun and use a range of communication tools, enabling people to build and maintain meaningful relationships with those around them.

A family member said: "They know x really well and how to handle him, it is a great service. We have total confidence in them".

The report added that, over the past few months a wide range of activities had been planned and organised both within the service and in the local community.

READ MORE: Parent full of praise for Catrine National Autistic Society event

Another relative added: "We are jealous of the amount of activities x is involved in, they are busy all the time!"

It added that inspectors saw that personal plans were of variable standard, some detailing very clear information in relation to how support should be provided and outcomes to be achieved.

Relatives were pleased at being able to have say in the support plans used.

One relative said: "We are able to have input to the support plan, we are really happy with how support is planned and provided".

The report added that a number of previous areas for improvement that had been made at a previous inspection had been met within the required timescale.