TLC Rehab

Updated 7 July 2026

We carried out an on-site assessment of TLC Rehab on 29 and 30 April 2026.

TLC Rehab registered with CQC in September 2024 to provide the regulated activities of Treatment of disease, disorder or injury and Accommodation for persons who require treatment for substance misuse. At the time of our inspection, the service did not have a Registered Manager. However, shortly after our assessment, the provider notified us of a new Registered Manager appointment.

We carried out a comprehensive assessment of all areas of the service. We also specifically reviewed the progress made against a warning notice served on the provider following an inspection in April 2025. This warning notice related to medicines management. The service had addressed the specific areas outlined in the warning notice.

Overall, we found that the service had made improvements in several areas. However, some risks remained and some areas needed further work.

We rated the service as requires improvement. We found breaches of regulations in relation to safe care and treatment, good governance, staffing and fit and proper persons employed.

We took enforcement action as a result of this assessment. We issued warning notices on 11 May 2026 in relation to safe care and treatment, staffing and fit and proper persons employed. The provider is required to become compliant with these warning notices by 20 July 2026.

For those areas where we found a need for improvement, but did not take enforcement action, we have asked the provider for an action plan. This action plan should outline how the provider intends to address the breaches identified and demonstrate sustained improvement.

Updated 18 February 2026

Date of on-site assessment: 29 April – 30 April 2026. Further assessment activity, such as telephone calls with staff members and clients, took place up until 15 May 2026.

TLC Rehab is a residential substance misuse rehabilitation service for adults based in Barnet, north London. The service offers medically assisted detoxification treatment for alcohol, opiates and non-opiates. It is an independent service for self-funded clients, run by Apex Wellness Solutions Ltd.

TLC Rehab registered with CQC in September 2024 to provide the regulated activities of Treatment of disease, disorder or injury and Accommodation for persons who require treatment for substance misuse. At the time of our assessment, the service did not have a Registered Manager, although one was confirmed in post shortly after our assessment visit concluded.

The service offers mixed-sex accommodation for up to 10 people. At the time of our inspection, 7 clients were admitted to the service.

We carried out a short-term announced site visit on 29 and 30 April 2026 as part of a comprehensive assessment. This means we covered all key questions and quality statements. We have combined the scores for these to achieve the overall rating. We have rated the service as requires improvement.

This was our third inspection of this service. During our initial assessment in April 2025, we found serious concerns and multiple breaches of regulations. We took urgent enforcement action and issued a Section 31 Letter of Intent relating to a range of governance and safety issues. At that time, we also issued a warning notice relating to medicines management. During our second assessment in July 2025, the provider was unable to demonstrate sufficient progress in addressing the areas of concern. The issues within the warning notice had not been addressed and the warning notice remained in place. As a result of the assessment in July 2025, we took urgent enforcement action by imposing conditions on the provider’s registration. At both previous assessments, we rated the service inadequate.

We undertook this current assessment to check whether the issues in the warning notice had been addressed and what progress the provider had made in improving overall governance and safety. We found that several areas had improved, but some risks remained and some areas needed further embedding.

At this current inspection, we found that the provider was in breach of regulations in relation to safe care and treatment, good governance, staffing, and fit and proper persons employed:

• Regulation 12: Safe care and treatment. Staff did not always provide safe care and treatment in line with national guidance. Medicines were not always prescribed safely. The provider had not ensured that its prescriber liaised with clients’ GPs consistently to make sure that care and treatment remained safe. Potential risks to people using the service were not identified, assessed and mitigated where needed. The provider had not ensured that staff had followed its policy for admissions to the service. This meant that the service was not able to meet the needs of all clients safely. Not all safety incidents were documented and investigated appropriately.
• Regulation 17: Good governance. There was no clinical lead role within the service to oversee and drive continuous improvement and provide expert guidance to the team. Decisions about some client admissions had been made by a non-clinical staff member, resulting in inappropriate admissions.
• Regulation 18: Staffing. Nurses did not receive appropriate clinical supervision or continuing professional development. There was no written contract for the employment of doctors and no contingency arrangements for continuity of care during their absences.
• Regulation 19: Fit and proper persons employed. The provider had not established a process to check that all staff it employed were of good character and had the necessary qualifications, competence, skills and experience, or were registered with the relevant professional body where such registration was required.

We took enforcement action as a result of this inspection. We issued warning notices on 11 May 2026 in relation to safe care and treatment, staffing, and fit and proper persons employed. The provider is required to become compliant with these warning notices by 20 July 2026.

We also found other areas where practice needed improving. We saw some gaps in clients’ assessments, such as previous treatment history not being explored and the absence of relevant blood tests. It was not always clear whether clients had been assessed by the doctor remotely or face-to-face, in line with the provider’s policy. There was limited evidence of harm reduction advice being provided to clients. Fire evacuation drills had not been carried out since March 2025. Although overall compliance with training was between 75% and 95%, this varied for individual staff members and some training courses. The Oliver McGowan mandatory training on learning disability and autism was included in the provider’s optional training instead of mandatory training. Actions identified in the external health and safety review in January 2026 remained outstanding. The service did not routinely work with external organisations and did not participate in research, quality improvement or accreditation schemes.

We found several areas where improvements had been made since our last assessment. Clients’ recovery plans that we viewed were personalised, holistic and recovery-oriented, with evidence of client involvement. We saw tangible improvements in the service’s governance systems and in how staff used them. The service had improved its systems to manage environmental risks. This included improved fire safety management, having a risk register and business continuity plan in place, and improvements to the security of the premises. The new operational managers demonstrated a good understanding and oversight of the service. Staff said that the improvements in governance helped them in performing their roles. Staff meeting structure had improved and weekly community meetings were taking place. There were now appropriate policies and procedures in place, including clear inclusion and exclusion criteria for admissions to the service. Discharge planning process had improved. The service had implemented a range of audits to monitor the quality and safety of the service. The service now ensured that staff received competency assessments, training, managerial supervision and appraisal. The service collected data such as outcome measures to monitor how effective the service was. Managers had access to information needed to support them in their role, such as audits, performance and staffing data.