Multi-million pound care home nominated for top design award

A multi-million pound care home in Aberdeen run by the Church of Scotland’s social care arm has been nominated for a top design award.

CrossReach’s £6 million state-of-the-art Rubislaw Park House is a finalist in the “Care Home Design” category at the Scottish Care Awards.

Staff will find out at the prizegiving ceremony in Glasgow on Friday 5th November whether it has scooped the top prize.

Reverend Syd Graham, CrossReach convener was thrilled at the news: “This recognises the pioneering team work which CrossReach does in harnessing the skills of practitioners, users and technical staff facilitating care in a focused way by creating a subtle and helpful environment.”

The 64-room facility, with a 40-place specialist dementia service, was commissioned by a team led by CrossReach’s director of estates David Reid.

It replaced a 50 year-old home on the same Rubislaw Park Road site, which no longer met the high quality standards that CrossReach is committed to providing for service users.

The project was completed within budget and agreed timescale and considerable thought was given to energy conservation and environmental issues.

Electric alternators generate the building’s power, eliminating the need to buy electricity from the National Grid, and under floor heating is not only cost effective but also means there are no radiators, reducing the risk of personal injury.

And there was further good news for CrossReach with regional manager Annie McDonald receiving a nomination in the “Care Achiever” category.

Annie is responsible for eight care homes across the north of Scotland and was credited with helping the Oversteps facility in Dornoch win “Team of the Year” at the Care Accolades Awards in June.

Mr Graham added: “Annie has inspired us to look at ways of continually improving the care we offer and never to be complacent, and this nomination is testament to her outstanding work.

“Annie leads by example, and her personal effort has been inspirational to others.”

CrossReach is the largest social care provider in the country and is widely recognised as being one of the leaders in dementia care in Scotland.

Next month it is hosting an international dementia conference in Glasgow, with keynote speakers including Henry Simmons, chief executive of Alzheimer Scotland, and Jacquie Roberts, chief executive of the Care Commission.