New Vision Bradford

On this page

• Overview
• Person-centred Care
• Care provision, Integration and continuity
• Providing Information
• Listening to and involving people
• Equity in access
• Equity in experiences and outcomes
• Planning for the future

This means we looked for evidence that the service met people’s needs. This is the first assessment for this service. This key question has been rated Good. This meant people’s needs were met through good organisation and delivery.

This service scored 82 (out of 100) for this area. Find out what we look at when we assess this area and How we calculate these scores.

The service was exceptional at making sure people were at the centre of their care and treatment choices and they decided, in partnership with people, how to respond to any relevant changes in people’s needs. Recovery workers received motivational interviewing training to support them with client interactions. Staff told us this enabled them to communicate with clients in a way that would get better outcomes, and in a way that encouraged clients to engage.

The management team put people at the heart of the service and people’s goals, wishes and aspirations drove service delivery. Feedback from clients and external services confirmed care was person-centred and unique to each client, and how the service was exceptional in the way they tailored people’s support. Staff and clients gave examples of how they based client care around individual needs and preferences. This included arranging telephone appointments for clients who were unable to attend the service or arranging video calls for clients who struggled with busy environments. Staff described being proactive in responding to client’s needs and each shift had an allocated first responder to manage challenges or clients who were in crisis.

Staff considered individual client needs and recorded alerts, reminders and special requirements within care records, for example, where a client required appointments at a certain time of the day or where somebody needed an interpreter. Clients told us staff knew them very well and that their recovery workers planned care around their individual needs.

We observed a client appointment and saw staff empowering the client to make their own decisions about their care and treatment. The staff member explained in detail the risks associated with the client’s particular condition which included discussions about relevant testing and treatment options.

Care records showed that staff sought feedback from clients about what their goals were, and how they could achieve this.

The service had a deep understanding of the health and care needs of clients and their local communities; therefore, care was joined-up, flexible and supported choice and continuity. Clients had consistent staff teams who knew and supported them well.

Managers planned and organised services, so they met the changing needs of the local population. Staff advised us of the diverse health and cultural needs of the local community, including clients of different ethnic origins and cultures, women with health needs, rough sleepers, and clients with refugee status. There were many joint working arrangements set up to support the needs of the local community. For example, the service had formed a working relationship with the Homeless Outreach partnership to ensure a multi-agency approach to supporting people living street-based lives. The service had strong partnership working with various agencies and organisations working to support people who were living street-based lives including begging, sex working and those that contribute to antisocial behaviour. The service worked with external stakeholders to create an operational leadership group which met every two weeks to coordinate the work and support offered to those leading street-based lives. There were plans to expand the partnership to housing services, dual diagnosis support and mental health trusts, and conversations with senior leaders from those organisations were ongoing.

Facilities and premises were appropriate for the services being delivered. Managers completed various health and safety checks, including fire alarm checks, clinical checks, and quarterly audits to review the environment at each site. There were also annual health and safety reviews carried out.

The service operated two late nights per week. Every Tuesday the service remained open until 8pm, and on Thursdays the service was open until 9pm. Managers told us this helped staff maintain contact with external services, allowed clients to have evening appointments, and enabled clients to attend the service in the evening. Staff also signposted clients to enable them to access emergency mental health support 24 hours a day 7 days a week for clients who needed this.

Managers monitored and took action to minimise missed appointments. Managers ensured that clients who did not attend appointments were contacted in line with the service’s did not attend policy. Recovery workers would initially try make contact via phone or text message or telephone the client’s emergency contact. In some cases, staff would visit the client’s home to complete a safe and well check, particularly for client’s who had disengaged from treatment.

The service had a designated fund, predominantly for criminal justice clients, to support them to attend appointments. They used this fund to purchase bus passes and provide them with mobile phones to encourage their communication with staff. Managers monitored continuity of care data for clients who had been referred to the service following release from prison. Data between A.pril and June 2025 showed that an average of 81% of clients had continued to engage in services following release.

Clients told us that staff encouraged them to maintain relationships with those that mattered to them. One client told us they encouraged them to continue to foster their relationship with their mother through their treatment and felt this was something the service strongly promoted.

Staff made notifications to external bodies as needed. These included statutory notifications to Care Quality Commissions and safeguarding referrals to the local authority.

The service supplied appropriate, accurate and up-to-date information in formats that were tailored to individual needs. Staff ensured that clients could obtain information on treatments, local services, patients’ rights, how to complain and so on. The information provided was in a form accessible to the client group. There were easy read versions of leaflets and information provided to clients. Staff made information leaflets available in languages spoken by clients.

Staff ensured carers, families and commissioners were regularly updated about the client’s progress.

The service was dynamic and responsive in enabling people to share feedback and ideas, or raise complaints about their care, treatment and support. They always involved clients in decisions about their care and told them what had changed as a result. The service had a culture of open and honest discussions, and any issues were dealt with immediately.

Managers investigated complaints, categorising these based on severity or impact. The service managed complaints effectively and actively encouraged clients to submit a complaint if they had concerns about their care. There was information on display about how to submit a complaint, and clients told us they knew how to do so. There had been 41 complaints within the last 12 months. None of the complaints were categorised as serious. 6 of these had been upheld. 15 complaints were partially upheld and 18 were not upheld. 2 of the complaints were in progress awaiting an outcome.

Managers acknowledged complaints within 24 hours and investigated these within 21 days. All complaints were discussed by managers and leaders in quarterly information governance meetings and monthly compliance meetings. Complaint themes and trends included complaints about late prescriptions and communication regarding appointments.

We reviewed 5 complaints and found that managers had acknowledged these in a timely manner, completed comprehensive investigations and identified learning or actions where appropriate. Complaints were seen as learning opportunities and the service reflected on how the service could improve.

The service had received 64 compliments during the previous 6 months. Staff and managers told us they actively sought both positive and negative feedback from clients through a range of forums.

Staff we spoke with knew how to handle complaints appropriately and could describe the various stages within the complaints process.

Staff received feedback on the outcome of investigation of complaints during flash meetings and team meetings. Managers and leaders reviewed complaints during information governance meetings and acted on the findings.

Former clients had become staff members and were actively involved in making decisions about the service. People who used the service were active partners in their care and staff empowered them to have a voice. There were feedback forms in communal areas and managers told us this was an important focus. Managers used social media to seek feedback and asked clients for their feedback during group sessions.

There was a ‘working together forum’ which enabled people with lived or living experience to actively contribute suggestions about what they wanted to see in the service. Managers told us one of the changes they had made was introducing a breakfast club. People had fed back that they wanted an informal peer support group where they could meet with staff and peers to prepare them for the day. This group was led by a staff member with lived experience.

There was a ‘Concerned Others’ service which provided emotional and practical support to adults who were impacted by their friend or relative’s substance use. This was a trauma informed service, which was accessible to all, regardless of the treatment status of the person using substances. The service was delivered by staff and volunteers, and offered one to one support sessions, and peer support groups where people could share their experiences and explore concerns. The facilitators would then offer guidance, practical information, and signpost people to access and access further support. The facilitators also arranged visiting speakers to attend group sessions giving advice around self-care. There were also planned activities including an aromatherapy workshop and arts and craft groups,

Managers completed case studies about the concerned other service, with input from client’s family and friends. We reviewed five case studies and saw that these analysed the interventions used to support the family member or friend. All the case studies contained positive feedback. One family member fed back that the support groups helped them to develop a deeper understanding of their loved one’s journey and meant they could offer support without trying to control their recovery. A second fed back that the service enabled them to shift their perspective and enabled them to cope better. Other feedback included volunteers sharing information about the nature of addiction and offer practical advice on how to support their loved one. One family member described the support they received as a “lifeline”.

We spoke with one of the concerned others service volunteers who told us managers had invested a lot of time and resources into the service. They described how they had completed a range of training including training on how to interact and engage with loved ones.

The service made sure people could access the care, support and treatment they needed when they needed it. Managers could fast track new client referrals based on risk factors including clients who were sex workers, pregnant, had identified children’s safeguarding issues, or where there were concerns around potential human trafficking. A senior staff member within the single point of contact team reviewed all new referrals to consider whether fast tracking was appropriate and escalated this to the appropriate team leader. For new referrals who were rough sleepers, a member of the rough sleeper’s outreach team would visit them, normally within 24 hours of referral.

There was an ongoing project in place with the district council to collect data on the demographics of the local population to help tailor care to the population. This included facilitating drop-in centres at community centres to raise awareness about the service and increase referrals. Staff also met with community leaders from different backgrounds to raise awareness.

The provider worked with people to ensure key information about their care and support was communicated appropriately using easy read formats.

Managers monitored waiting times and made sure clients could access services when needed and received treatment within agreed timeframes and national targets.

Most client’s self-referred into the service via a single point of contact. The service aimed for clients to receive an initial assessment complete within 21 days of referral in line with the guidance under the National Drug Treatment Monitoring System. Data showed that the current timescale for assessment was 15 days and that in most cases this figure was rarely over 14 days. If clients had not been assessed within 2 weeks of initial contact, there was a system in place to escalate this.

Managers and staff worked to make sure clients did not stay longer in the service than they needed to. Between 1 April 2024 and 31 March 2025 the service had a total of 646 successful exits from treatment which managers confirmed met the services’ contractual target. The number of successful exits for treatment were 98 for alcohol and non-opiate use, 313 for alcohol use only, 151 for non-opiate use only, and 84 for opiate use only.

Managers worked to keep the number of cancelled appointments to a minimum. In the previous 12 months, only 1.9% of all appointments booked on the system were cancelled.

When clients did have their appointments cancelled at the last minute, managers made sure they were rearranged as soon as possible and within national targets and guidance.

Managers and staff started planning each patient’s discharge as early as possible. Staff planned patients’ discharge carefully, particularly for those with complex mental health and social care needs. There was a discharge working group within the service who were currently reviewing the exit from service process to consider whether any improvements could be made. The service aimed to discharge those that were ready and retain those clients who still required treatment.

Staff supported clients who left prison to ensure continuity of care. Data from 1 February 2024- 31 January 2025 showed that 62% of prison leavers with a continued treatment need were seen by the service within 3 weeks compared to national average of 57% according to the National Drug Treatment Monitoring Service.

Staff and leaders were innovative in how they listened to information about people who are most likely to experience inequality in experience or outcomes. Staff and leaders actively used this information to provide exceptionally tailored care, support and treatment in response to this. The service had been developed and designed to ensure people who received support had access to services which matched their individual care needs. Staff within the service and the wider organisation promoted a culture in which the people using the service felt empowered to give their views.

The provider had undertaken equality impact assessments of their policies and procedures to ensure they did not place vulnerable people or people with protected characteristics at a disadvantage.

One staff member told us they had expressed an interest in working with LGBTQ clients and that managers had facilitated this. They described how this enabled them to offer a unique perspective on the client group’s view of treatment, likelihood of them accessing the service and barriers to treatment.

The service worked with a range of external stakeholders to try reach out to people who were more likely to experience inequality in outcomes. Staff worked closely with a sexual health charity and described ongoing work with the charity to raise client awareness about accessing treatment and de-stigmatising sexually transmitted infections.

Staff held a men’s mental health event, partnering up with community nursing staff from the local NHS trust. The event involved having a stall in a deprived area of the community. Staff told us this led to multiple referrals being processed on the day. Both managers and staff spoke extremely passionately about reaching out to marginalised groups and told us there were always projects and events in place to do so. They said that rather than expecting people to self-refer they actively sought people in the community who would benefit from treatment.

The service also worked with the local NHS trust to facilitate a sexual health nurse-led women’s group at several sites. This provided extra support to sex workers within the service. The group offered advice on sexually transmitted infections and their impact on the body, harm reduction techniques and how to access support. We spoke with the sexual health nurse who told us they were completing joint work with staff at the service including creating individualised plans of care. The staff member spoke positively about the service and described how the work helped to reach out to marginalised people who were underrepresented in drug services.

Staff supported LGBTQ clients to attend an out of hours drop-in centre at a local venue to receive information and support.

Managers had completed an outreach project, to raise awareness within the local south Asian community. They told us people within the community were identified as less likely to come forward and described how the work included visiting places of worship to speak with people and share information. They ensured information about the service was translated into different languages.

Staff also advised us they were considering changing the age range of their clients by looking at individual support for older clients and associated health needs. Staff also told us there was a support group in place to support the needs of female clients, including needs relating to the menopause.

Managers described an ongoing project where they had reviewed the care they offered to older clients and their associated physical and mental health needs.

The service had recently introduced a women’s lead following consultation with a staff member. This role meant there was a dedicated point of contact with other women’s services, including a women’s charity who worked with women who had gone through the criminal justice system. Managers also held additional multidisciplinary team meetings every six weeks to review care provided to clients who were pregnant.

Staff were trained in equality, diversity, inclusion and human rights. Training compliance at the time of inspection was 100%.

Staff support clients to make decisions about their care and treatment and their future. Staff created personalised recovery plans to account for the client’s needs, wishes and feelings.

Staff ensured all relevant healthcare professionals and other relevant bodies were involved in planning the care and treatment of people with complex needs. This included housing, social care and hospital services.

The service supported clients to access clients to employment support services to prepare them for discharge.