Archived: U Turn Recovery Project

Updated 10 October 2019

U Turn Recovery Project provides residential rehabilitation including a seven-step recovery programme for men who misuse alcohol and drugs. The service does not provide detox. The service accepts clients who have either received detox prior to admission or have commenced ‘at home’ detox with a different provider.

The service has 15 beds. At the time of our inspection there were 10 clients in the service. U Turn Recovery Project is operated by a Christian charity and does not receive funding from any of the organisations or agencies that refer people to the service.

U Turn Recovery Project is registered to provide: Accommodation for persons who require treatment for substance misuse. The previous registered manager had left the service over three years ago. The current manager had submitted an application to become the registered manager and this application was in progress at the time of inspection.

We have previously inspected this service on four occasions. When we last inspected the service in August 2018, we told the provider they must ensure that there are adequate governance systems in place. We also told the provider that arrangements for monitoring staff performance were not suitable because there was no system in place for supervision or appraisal. Staff had not all received the required level of training for their role.

We found some improvements had been made but there was more work to be done.

Updated 10 October 2019

We rated U Turn Recovery Project as requires improvement because:

• The service had weak governance systems in place which meant that monitoring arrangements did not identify risks faced by the service. The service was not well maintained. We found that recommendations from the 2017 fire safety risk assessment had not been implemented and that electrical installation checks had not been carried out within the last five years. There were health and safety hazards around the service, which had not been identified on the providers environmental risk assessment and posed a risk to clients as well as staff.
• The service did not have adequate monitoring arrangements to ensure the environment and medication arrangements were managed safely. Medicine audits were not documented and staff had failed to identify an unsafe environment through the audit process.
• Procedures and policies were not up to date and failed to take into account relevant legislation. The service had not considered risks for the service as a whole and there was no documented contingency plan in place.
• The service had not adequately supported staff to receive basic statutory training as well as some mandatory training. There was no formal supervision arrangement in place and not all staff had received an appraisal.
• The service offered little information to staff about how to support clients with protected characteristics, for example sexual orientation, and there was little information available to these clients to make them feel included and welcomed into the service.

However:

• Overall the service was visibly clean and had adequate furnishings and equipment.
• There were sufficient staff, who knew the clients well and there was out of hours cover arranged. Staff assessed and managed risks to clients and understood the importance of taking the time to listen to clients and support them through the rehabilitation programme. Staff applied blanket restrictions only when necessary and to ensure clients had appropriate boundaries in place to support them in their recovery.
• The service had a good track record on safety and there had not been any serious incidents. When incidents occurred, they were discussed at staff meetings.
• Staff assessed the health and well-being of all clients on admission and ensured that they had access to good physical healthcare. The service provided an abstinence-based rehabilitation programme based on self-help and mutual aid. Staff supported clients to make decisions about their care for themselves. Staff made sure clients understood the house rules and complied with these.
• Staff supported clients to be empowered, for example by encouraging and supporting them to take on responsibility and ownership for their lives through the programme. As clients progressed through the programme they were given additional privileges and responsibilities.

Updated 10 October 2019