Archived: Awakn Clinics Bristol

Updated 30 March 2023

The service is provided by Awakn Clinics Bristol

Awakn Clinics Bristol is registered to provide the following regulated activitiy:

• Treatment of disease, disorder or injury

Awakn Clinics Bristol provides treatment to adults who have treatment resistant depression, anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder, mental health problems and substance and alcohol dependency. The treatment involves using a controlled drug called Ketamine that is passed into a person’s blood stream via an intravenous injection.

Treatment is delivered to patients in a clinical setting and the patient is closely monitored throughout treatment and for a period of time after treatment before being discharged.

An experienced consultant psychiatrist prescribed the Ketamine and experienced psychotherapists trained in psychedelic assisted therapy provided therapeutic intervention during scheduled sessions.

Patients were required to complete assessments prior to treatment including a physical health assessment, and relevant information was sought from the patient’s GP.

The service registered with the CQC in November 2020 and has not been inspected before. The service employed a consultant psychiatrist, psychotherapists, registered mental health nurses, a GP and staff to provide leadership and oversight of the service.

Staff received appraisals and regular supervision which was undertaken by leaders within the service and also by peers.

The clinic was open between 9:30am and 5:30pm Monday to Friday for treatment, the service was closed on Saturdays and Sundays.

How we inspected this service

During the inspection visit to the service, the inspection team:

• spoke with two patients who had used the service

• reviewed feedback from 12 patient questionnaires

• spoke with staff such as the registered manager, consultant psychiatrist, psychotherapists and the quality safety and risk lead

• reviewed six treatment records

• checked how medicines were managed

• reviewed information and documents relating to the operation and management of the service.

To get to the heart of patients’ experiences of care and treatment, we always ask the following five questions:

• Is it safe?

• Is it effective?

• Is it caring?

• Is it responsive to people’s needs?

• Is it well-led?

These questions therefore formed the framework for the areas we looked at during the inspection

Updated 30 March 2023

This service is rated as Good overall.

The key questions are rated as:

Are services safe? – Good

Are services effective? – Good

Are services caring? – Good

Are services responsive? – Good

Are services well-led? – Good

We carried out an unannounced comprehensive inspection at the registered location Awakn Clinics Bristol on 15th February 2023, as the service had not been previously inspected.

Awakn clinics Bristol provides a consultant led outpatient service that assesses and treats patients with depression, anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder and addiction who are treatment resistant. The treatment involves intravenous use of a controlled drug called Ketamine alongside psychotherapy. This form of Ketamine use is often referred to as Ketamine-Assisted Psychotherapy (KAP).

The clinic director is the registered manager. A registered manager is a person who is registered with the Care Quality Commission to manage the service. Like registered providers, they are ‘registered persons’. Registered persons have legal responsibility for meeting the requirements in the Health and Social Care Act 2008 and associated Regulations about how the service is run.

We reviewed feedback that the provider had collated since opening the service in 2021.

Comments were positive and described the service as being life-changing. Patients we spoke with were also complimentary about the service. They described the consultant psychiatrist as being supportive, made them feel at ease and the treatment had vastly improved their quality of life.

Our key findings were:

• The service provided safe care and treatment. The provider ensured that patients had comprehensive assessments for both their mental and physical health prior to treatment.
• The service safely managed medicines. The consultant psychiatrist prescribed medicines and they were administered to patients in line with legal requirements and current national guidance.
• Staff supported patients to make informed decisions about treatment. The service ensured that patients were given information that included how the treatment works and the costs involved. Patients we spoke with told us that they were given enough time to ask questions before they committed to starting treatment.
• Access into the service was easy. The provider’s website clearly set out how patients could contact the service. The service responded promptly to enquiries and ensured patients were seen in a timely manner.
• The service had enough qualified staff to provide high quality care and treatment to patients.

However:

• Governance systems that should have monitored the quality and safety of the service were not thorough. For example, not all routine audits were completed within the organisation’s time-frames.
• Not all policies were up to date.

We saw the following outstanding practice:

The service offered a 25% discount for people receiving certain income related benefits as well as people with disabilities. This meant the treatment was made more accessible to people who were unable to meet the full cost of treatment.

The areas where the provider should make improvements are:

• The provider should ensure oversight of audit schedules and completeness.
• The provider should ensure all policies are up to date.
• The provider should ensure the Safeguarding policy outlines staff training competencies.