- Residential substance misuse service
Ark House
Assessment report published 3 December 2025
Contents
Ratings - Substance misuse services
Our view of the service
Ark House is a residential substance misuse rehabilitation service provided by Ark House Rehab Limited which has been registered with the CQC since 2014. Ark House was last inspected in March 2022 and was rated good. We inspected this service on the 9 and 10 of September 2025. The service provides treatment to rehabilitate people with drug or alcohol dependency. It is registered with the Care Quality Commission to provide accommodation for persons who require treatment for substance misuse. The service accepted clients that were self-funded and clients funded by an appropriate authority, for example a local authority or clinical commissioning group. Ark House has a registered manager and a nominated individual.
The service is located in a large house in a residential area of Scarborough. The service has good links with the local community and is within walking distance to amenities. The service can take up to 30 clients and has staff on duty 24 hours. At the time of our inspection, there were 26 clients in treatment. All clients must be free of any substance use before admission, so they often arrive at the service following a detoxification programme. Ark House does not offer clinical or prescription medicine treatments. It delivers psychosocial interventions and provides a therapeutic environment for recovery based on the 12- step programme. The 12-step programme is a form of therapy which provides clients with a set of twelve clear steps towards addiction recovery. These steps are structured to create a beginning-to-end transformation from the early stages of acceptance all the way to rebuilding your connection with others.
We inspected this service over two days with a team of two inspectors and a specialist advisor who works within substance misuse services. We rated this service as outstanding. The service provided a safe, therapeutic environment with skilled, compassionate and caring staff that delivered a range of therapeutic interventions in line with people’s individual needs. Care was recovery focussed and led by experts by experience (staff who have gone through successful recovery). Care records were detailed and showed that staff involved clients and their family, where appropriate, in decisions around care and treatment. There was clear governance oversight and partnerships with other services and agencies were in place.
There was enough staff to keep people safe and ensure therapeutic interventions were consistent and structured. Policies and procedures were in place, ensuring admissions and discharges were safe and effective.
People's experience of this service
We spoke with 9 clients using the service and four family members of clients who were using the service or had been recently discharged. The feedback inspectors received was overwhelmingly positive. Clients using the service told us they felt their lives had been saved. Clients praised staff for their understanding of treatment and ability to support people through the recovery steps. Clients told us rules within the service were strict, but that this was positive and helped with structuring days, supporting recovery and maintaining wellbeing. Client told us their family were involved and supported to visit and attend meetings or groups and they received support in all aspects of their needs to ensure they would be able to re-enter the wider community successfully and prepared. Clients told us that the therapeutic sessions were very helpful and impacted them positively.
Family members we spoke with were positive about the service. Family members told us they now felt they had their loved one back. One family member told us, “Ark House provided a life- line where other services had failed to do so.” Family members were involved throughout their loved one’s journey, they had regular carer support group meetings, felt included and involved and that this benefited their loved one in treatment. Family members also praised the staff within the service for the information, education and support they provided to them to understand their loved one’s addiction.