Liberty House Clinic Limited

Updated 17 November 2025

Liberty House provides accommodation for people who require treatment for substance misuse. This assessment looked at residential substance misuse services, which we rated as good. We assessed Liberty House on 21 August 2025 to review the progress made following inspection in February 2024, where there was a breach under safe care and treatment, relating to proper and safe management of medicines. We found the service had made some improvements following our last inspection.

At this assessment we found a breach in relation to safe care and treatment. Admission to the service was not always safe. There was not a robust inclusion or exclusion criteria in place that clearly identified when a person’s risk was too high for the service to safely manage. People did not have a face to face appointment with a prescriber on admission and did not see a clinician throughout their treatment.

The environment was not always safe. Staff did not know where to locate ligature cutters in an emergency. All naloxone was past its expiry date and was not easy to access in an emergency. Medicines were not disposed of in a timely manner. There were no alarms in the building for emergencies or in the event of an incident. Some appliances in the facility were not working. Male and female bedroom and bathroom areas were mixed and not segregated, although shared bedrooms were single sex. Systems, pathways and transitions were not always safe. Most care records had a medical summary from the GP, however in some cases people had declined consent for their GP to be contacted. We did not see rating scales, such as alcohol use disorder identification test (AUDIT) or severity of dependency scale questionnaire (SADQ) being used. Medicines were not always disposed of in a timely manner. There were controlled drugs in the controlled drugs cupboard that had not been disposed of. Admission and exclusion criteria was not specific in level of risk that would be accepted into the service.

However, following our inspection the provider ensured that ligature cutters and naloxone were easily accessible in an emergency. Staff used clinical institute of withdrawal of alcohol (CIWA-Ar) to monitor alcohol withdrawal. Most staff were up to date with mandatory training and received regular supervision and appraisals. Risk management plans were personalised. The provider put plans in place for safe disposal of medicines with a local pharmacy. There were regular checks to ensure that people were receiving prescribed medicines. Staff had good knowledge of safeguarding and were aware of safeguarding processes. Broken appliances were quickly replaced. The team at Liberty House worked cohesively and staff spoke positively about working at the service.

Updated 17 July 2025

Liberty House Clinic registered with Care Quality Commission in February 2016 to provide accommodation for people who require treatment for substance misuse. Liberty House Clinic is a 20-bed residential drug and alcohol detoxification and rehabilitation service based in Luton. This service provides care and treatment for male and female clients. Liberty House provides medically monitored detoxification and evidence-based treatments, including 12- step treatment and dialectical-behavioural therapy (DBT).

This inspection was unannounced on 21 August 2025 and was prompted to follow up on an action plan from the previous inspection, where there was a breach of safe care and treatment. At the time of inspection there was a registered manager in post.

We rated the service as good overall, however we found a breach in relation to safe care and treatment. There was not a robust inclusion or exclusion criteria in place that clearly identified when a person’s risk was too high for the service to safely manage. People did not have a face to face appointment with a prescriber on admission and did not see a clinician throughout their treatment.

The environment was not always safe. Staff did not know where to locate ligature cutters in an emergency. All naloxone was past expiry date and was not easy to access in an emergency. Medications were not disposed of in a timely manner. There were no alarms in the building for emergencies or in the event of an incident. Some appliances in the facility were not working. Male and female bedroom and bathroom areas were mixed and not segregated, although shared bedrooms were single sex. Systems, pathways and transitions were not always safe. Most care records had a medical summary from the GP, however in some cases people had declined consent for their GP to be contacted. We did not see rating scales, such as alcohol use disorder identification test (AUDIT) or severity of dependency scale questionnaire (SADQ) being used. Medicines were not always disposed of in a timely manner. There were controlled drugs in the controlled drugs cupboard that had not been disposed of. Admission criteria was not specific. It was not clear from policies if people at high risk of withdrawal would be accepted for treatment.

However, following our inspection the provider ensured that ligature cutters and naloxone were easily accessible in an emergency. Staff used clinical institute of withdrawal of alcohol (CIWA-Ar) to monitor alcohol withdrawal. Most staff were up to date with mandatory training and received regular supervision and appraisals. Risk management plans were personalised. The provider put plans in place for safe disposal of medicines with a local pharmacy. There were regular checks to ensure that people were receiving prescribed medicines. Staff had good knowledge of safeguarding and were aware of the safeguarding process. Broken appliances were quickly replaced. The team at Liberty House worked cohesively and staff spoke positively about working at the service.