Updated
23 June 2026
Change Grow Live (CGL) Southwark is part of the larger Change Grow Live provider, who deliver a not-for-profit drug and alcohol treatment service nationally. CGL Southwark operates across 2 hubs located in Southwark (Camberwell Road, and Amelia Street).
The Southwark service offers specialist community-based support for adults and young people affected by substance misuse in the borough. It works collaboratively with local partners including the NHS (National Health Service), social services, probation, GPs (General Practitioners) and pharmacies to deliver integrated care.
Overall, we found that people received good quality care and support. People, carers and partner agencies consistently described staff as caring, professional and committed to improving outcomes. People told us they felt supported, respected and involved in decisions about their care. We observed effective multidisciplinary working and found examples of partnership working, innovation and service development.
We identified some areas requiring improvement. We found breaches of Regulation 12 (Safe care and treatment), Regulation 16 (Receiving and acting on complaints), Regulation 17 (Good governance) and Regulation 18 (Staffing). These related to gaps in some mandatory and specialist training, inconsistent supervision, weaknesses in complaints oversight and delays in reviewing risks through governance processes. Whilst leaders had recognised some of these issues and action was being taken to address them, governance systems had not always identified or addressed concerns in a timely way.
Despite these concerns, we found that people were able to access support when they needed it, staff worked effectively with partner organisations, and outcomes for people using the service were generally positive.
Mental Capacity Act Compliance.
100% of staff had had training in the Mental Capacity Act. This was eLearning and included Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards.
The provider had a policy on the Mental Capacity Act. Staff were aware of the policy and had access to it.
Staff took all practical steps to enable people to make their own decisions. Where there were concerns about a client's understanding, records showed contact had been made with mental health services, and safeguarding referrals had been made for individuals who were being taken advantage of.
For people who might have impaired mental capacity, staff assessed and recorded capacity to consent appropriately. Staff assessed people’s capacity to consent to their treatment at point of assessment for the service. There was a prompt sheet for staff to follow, which included people’s ability to understand the information, retain the information, weigh up the information and communicate their decision.
Community-based substance misuse services
Updated
4 August 2025
Date of inspection: 1 - 2 October 2025.
We carried out an unannounced comprehensive inspection at CGL Southwark as part of our inspection programme.
CGL Southwark is part of the larger Change Grow Live provider, which delivers a not-for-profit drug and alcohol treatment service nationally. CGL Southwark operates across 2 hubs located in Southwark (Camberwell Road, and Amelia Street).
The Southwark service offers specialist community-based support for adults and young people affected by substance misuse in the borough. It works collaboratively with local partners, including the NHS, social services, probation, GPs, and pharmacies, to deliver integrated care.
The service provides a wide range of tailored interventions, including clinical treatments such as opioid substitution therapy, detoxification, and prescribed medications. Medical clinics offer health checks, blood-borne virus testing, and vaccinations, alongside naloxone distribution to prevent opioid overdoses.
In addition to clinical support, the service offers psychosocial interventions such as one-to-one key working, group recovery programmes, harm reduction advice, and a needle exchange. Families and carers also receive support through structured interventions and professionals are offered training and resources.
Young people benefit from personalised sessions, peer group support, emotional wellbeing assistance, smoking cessation programmes, and signposting to services covering housing, education, employment, mental health, and financial support.
At the time of the assessment, approximately 1500 people were receiving treatment at the service.
The service registered at this location on 30 December 2022. This was the first inspection at this location. The service was previously delivered at a different location, which was inspected in October 2021.
At this assessment we rated the service as good. We spoke with 4 people who were using the service and 3 carers. We also reviewed the care and treatment records of 5 people.
At this assessment we found several areas of good practice.
We saw evidence of patient centred discussions in Multi-Disciplinary Team (MDT) meetings.
People, carers and partner agency stakeholders praised the staff as incredibly professional, sharing their view that CGL provides a “high-quality, safe service to our residents of all ages with evidence of commitment to service development and improvement.”
Feedback from some staff was positive. Staff described a safe working environment with the freedom to speak up, emphasising a supportive and learning culture, and their enjoyment of working at this service. However, others highlighted areas for improvement. Staff expressed a strong desire for more regular supervision and reflective practice sessions to support wellbeing and professional development.
Carers reported that mental health support and family focused work were highly valued, with positive outcomes for their relatives.
People told us that their experience was prompt and supportive, and reasonable adjustments were made according to need.
We found some areas for improvement.
We found breaches of regulation in relation to Regulation 12: Safe care and treatment. Mandatory training compliance was below expected levels. Only 40% of staff had completed refresher basic life support and anaphylaxis training. The provider could not demonstrate effective assurance that competencies were being maintained. Since our inspection, the provider has demonstrated improvements to staff training in response to the findings.
We found breaches in Regulation 16: Receiving and acting on complaints. Of the 15 complaints reviewed from the past year, 5 had not been fully reviewed or signed off. Since our inspection, the provider has reported improvements to their complaints processes.
We found breaches in Regulation 17: Good Governance, all entries on the risk register were overdue for review. The service’s audit activity failed to identify several of the significant issues found during this assessment. Since our inspection, the provider has reported improvements to their risk register processes.
We found breaches in Regulation 18: Staffing. We found that supervision was inconsistent, some staff felt unsupported, and by August 2025 the year-to-date average supervision compliance rate was 59%.
Staff said the narrow, steep staircase posed safety risks and limited accessibility, and the layout restricted suitable meeting spaces.
People told us that they “regularly observed a shortage of rooms, especially when they turn up or are having issues with scripts, and these conversations often took place in the waiting area in close proximity to others.”
The service’s health and safety risk assessment was 6 weeks out of date. The provider has since updated this risk assessment.
We have asked the provider for an action plan in response to the concerns found at this assessment.