A BURY-based voluntary group which provides vital support to carers in their own home is celebrating a glowing inspection report.

Bury Crossroads Caring for Carers has been praised by the Commission for Social Care Inspectorate which is the single inspectorate for social care in England.

The Commission looked at the policies and procedures of Crossroads, located in Hornby Street, and interviewed both staff and service users.

The organisation, an independent charity founded in 1992, is managed by a voluntary board of trustees. It has 48 staff and serves 350 Bury families, offering a total of 850 caring hours each week.

The inspection report concluded that "a clear management structure" was in place and added: "Service users were satisfied with the service and felt that their needs were being met. They felt that the staff were reliable and dependable.

"Feedback from service users was very positive with regard to staff respecting their privacy and dignity when assisting with personal care. Staff have the knowledge and experience to care for the service users. Within the staff group there is a range of skills and competence required to work with and meet the needs of individual service users."

The report stated that service users were "extremely complimentary" about staff and management in relation to their abilities to match staff to service users, ensuring their needs are met.

The inspector also said that Bury Crossroads exceeded the national standard for risk assessments and great importance was attached to the safety of service users and staff.

The report went on: "The agency has the financial resources, plans and operational procedures in place to achieve and monitor the requirements for the workforce training and qualification. Bury Crossroads has a very skilled and competent workforce with clear management structures."

The contents of the Commission's report has been welcomed by Mr Mike Davis, chairman of the board of trustees at Bury Crossroads.

He said: "We are proud of the achievements of our staff and congratulate them on achieving the high standards of care as emphasised in the report. Bury Crossroads is truly dedicated to caring for the people of Bury. "