25 August 2016
During an inspection looking at part of the service
We do not currently rate independent standalone substance misuse services.
We found the following issues that the service provider needs to improve:
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Medical reviews did not always take place within 12 weeks as per Addaction’s policy and follow up after clients did not attend appointments was not always timely. Monitoring of medical reviews and missed appointments had not been effectively managed.
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Clients did not always receive regular face to face contact from a worker and some went for long periods without being seen by a member of the team.
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Risk assessments sometimes lacked detail or were not present.
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Managers had not reported seven unexpected deaths to CQC in a timely manner and detailed root cause analyses of these deaths had not taken place.
However, we also found the following areas of good practice:
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Clients were very positive about the care they received and felt that staff listened to them and did not judge them. Staff were passionate about providing high quality client centred services.
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Managers were in the process of introducing a new risk management plan which included managing safeguarding.
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Staff saw clients who were starting treatment in a timely manner. There were no waiting lists for clients to access the service.
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Managers and medical staff were working to address the issues of missed appointments, follow ups and 12 weekly medical reviews.
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Staff completed mandatory training and received regular supervision.