Inverness Women’s Aid defends its record in wake of Care Inspectorate report
An Inverness organisation supporting women who have experienced domestic abuse has defended its record following an inspectors’ report.
Inverness Women's Aid (IWA) services, which are increasingly in demand, include refuge accommodation for up to 12 women and their children plus outreach support.
Following an unannounced visit, the Care Inspectorate judged the leadership and staff team to be weak and gave an ‘adequate’ rating in response to the question ‘How well do we support people's wellbeing?’.
Although IWA acknowledged the inspectorate’s findings, it said the report did not acknowledge the “devastating” impact of an unexpected £50,000 funding cut nor the progress made in recent months.
• Highland politicians seek urgent answers over future of domestic abuse services
• Highland Council under growing pressure to halt proposals for domestic abuse services
Inspectors from the Care Inspectorate, which regulates the part of IWA registered as a housing support service, visited the refuge on October 8 and 9.
Although they observed warm, positive and supportive interactions between staff and those supported by the service, they also noted women’s support plans lacked details about identified needs and how support would be delivered.
In judging leadership to be weak, the inspectors noted that during the inspection, there was no manager in place and that the service was being supported by an independent consultant, based remotely.
In evaluating how good the team was, the inspectors identified some strengths but said these were compromised by significant weaknesses.
In a statement, IWA responded: “We acknowledge the findings of the Care Inspectorate’s report including the identified areas for improvement and will take the findings into account making improvements where needed moving forward.
“We were reassured the report noted most women felt safe within the service and felt listened to and respected by staff.
“However, the report has not acknowledged the progress we’ve made in recent months, despite funding and staff attrition challenges.
“Nor did it acknowledge the devastating impact of an unexpected £50,000 funding cut by the Highland Council which directly affected our staffing and our ability to deliver services.
“Our staffing was further affected by staff attrition and the time it took to recruit and train new staff.”
It went on to state the report focused on the refuge and did not reflect on the full range of impact of its services across the region.
“Our services are increasingly sought after given there is a greater awareness of domestic abuse,” it said.
“IWA is a small but extremely dedicated team and we are committed to delivering the best possible support given our current challenges.
“We wish the women and children of Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch and Strathspey to know that we will do our best to help them.”
In the report, inspectors set down a requirement that by November 30 a management structure should be in place providing managerial oversight, supervision and accountability.
They also said that by the same date, the provider must follow safer recruitment principles to ensure that staff had the right knowledge, competence and skills to safely support service users.
The report comes as warnings have been sounded that domestic abuse services for women and children in the Highlands are at risk of possible closure under funding plans by Highland Council.
The council is considering changing to funding just one provider for the whole region and to also make the service available to men.
But it has prompted fears that such a move would lead to the closure of Women’s Aid services in Inverness, Lochaber, Ross-shire and Skye and Caithness and Sutherland.
The growing chorus of calls urging an urgent rethink includes Highlands and Islands MSPs Ariane Burgess (Green), Emma Roddick (SNP) and Rhoda Grant (Labour).
