The Prosen unit at Whitehills Health and Community Care Centre in Forfar has received a positive report from the Mental Welfare Commission for Scotland.
Among the areas which came in for praise were the preparation of care plans for patients and the interaction between patients and volunteers.
In April, the commission made an announced visit to the unit, a mixed-sex ward with 10 beds providing admission, assessment and treatment for people with dementia.
Inspectors reviewed the care and treatment of seven patients, met four relatives and spoke with the general manager, ward manager, nursing staff and a trainee doctor.
Staff in the unit were helpful and supportive, provided good information and kept relatives up to date about how treatment was progressing.
Relatives always felt welcome and could see staff know the patients well and treat them with a great deal of patience and respect.
The files reviewed were well organised and maintained, with information easy to locate in each individual patient file.
Care plans were person centred with good details of nursing actions and interventions.
They are evaluated regularly, at least on a monthly basis, multidisciplinary team meetings are well recorded with clear information about decisions made at meetings and actions to be progressed.
‘Getting to Know Me’ forms in individual files give staff good information about each individual patient, their life history and their needs, interests and preferences.
General practitioners from one of the local practices visit the ward twice weekly and there was good input from other health professionals.
As Whitehills is a community hospital, other health professionals working in the community are based there and the unit has very good access to these professionals.
A number of volunteers come into the ward regularly to provide activities.
They help with maintaining the garden in the ward and encourage patients to use the garden. There is also input from senior pupils from the local secondary school.
The inspectors included one recommendation in their report, relating to filing of forms. This recommendation was actioned by the ward team on the day of the inspection.
The Angus Health and Social Care Partnership welcomed the report.
Gail Smith, Head of Community Health and Care Services, said: “This is an excellent report which demonstrates the knowledge and skills of the staff and volunteers.”
Mandy Warden, interim lead for Psychiatry of Old Age said: “We welcome this very positive report which highlights the high standards of care and treatment we strive to provide within the Prosen Unit.
“The staff and team work particularly hard to include their local community and help to break down barriers for people with dementia and their carers.
“Our fantastic volunteers who give up their time and energy to support the staff are an important part of this work.”
