I've worked for Birchwood Highland in the Inverness Housing Support Team for almost seven years. In that time Birchwood Highland has continuously changed and strived to provide a high quality service tailored to meet the needs of people who use our service. I greatly appreciate the resources the company put into training for all staff and feel sure this goes a long way in supporting us to provide a service that the Care Commission has recognised as excellent. I greatly value my independence and the freedom to make choices in my own life, therefore Birchwood Highland's mission statement which focuses on Independence, Inclusion and Recovery fits beautifully with my own personal values and principles.

June Jeffrey

Quality care standards

The Care Commission's 2009/10 assessment of Birchwood Highland

The Care Commission was set up in April 2002 under the Regulation of Care (Scotland) Act to regulate all adult, child and independent healthcare services in Scotland. It makes sure that care service providers meet the Scottish Government's National Care Standards and works to improve the quality of care.

The Care Commission's assessment of Birchwood Highland's Housing Support Service on 4th December 2009 awarded grade sixes in all the areas they looked at - the highest ratings available.

Birchwood Highland Recovery Centre, assessed in September 2009, also achieved grade sixes in all areas.

Peter Cattanach, Chief Executive of Birchwood Highland commented: "These ratings were warmly welcomed by all at Birchwood Highland as formal recognition of the excellent work that staff do on a daily basis."

The photo above was taken during the eight week programme of activities at Abriachan Forest in early spring 2010.

Promoting and supporting recovery

As a member of the Scottish Recovery Network and the more recently formed Highland Recovery Network , Birchwood Highland is committed to promoting and supporting recovery from long-term mental health problems.

We work to the 10 Essential Shared Capabilities (Scotland) - learning materials developed by NHS Education for Scotland (NES). They are relevant to people in all roles and settings who are involved in mental health work - including service users, families and carers, managers, practitioners, volunteers, peer support workers and all workers within the wider mental health community. Working through the activities has helped us develop our recovery-focused approach to mental health.

Wellness Recovery Action Planning (WRAP) is a 'self-management tool' used in many countries around the world to help individuals take more control over their wellbeing and recovery; recognising that people are the experts on themselves. We aim to provide WRAP training to all our support staff.

We audit our services against the Scottish Recovery Indicator, a mental health service development tool. This tool has been designed by the Scottish Recovery Network to help mental health services ensure that their activities are focused on supporting the recovery of the people who use their services. In doing so it highlights issues in relation to inclusion, rights, equality and diversity.