6 to 7 November 2018
During a routine inspection
We rated SMART Howard House Project as good because:
• The service had made improvements following our last inspection in 2016. This included training staff in search techniques and attaching photos of clients to medication charts.
• The service was clean and welcoming.
• All staff were up to date with their mandatory training which included safeguarding, infection prevention and control, Mental Capacity Act and first aid.
• The service delivered treatment for alcohol and/or opiate detoxification in line with national institute for health and care excellence guidelines. There were clear policies and procedures in place to ensure that treatment was delivered safely.
• The service had strong links with community services to help ensure that clients were well prepared before starting treatment and that they would be supported once they were discharged from the service.
• All clients had comprehensive and holistic recovery plans in place.
• Risks were well managed and discussed in daily briefing sessions.
• Staff treated clients with kindness, dignity and respect. Clients gave very positive feedback about the support they received from staff.
• Staff morale was high and staff were well supported by their managers.
• There was a clear incident reporting procedure in place and learning from incidents was shared across the organisation.
However:
• Staff used both paper and electronic files to record client information, but practice was inconsistent. This meant it was unclear where to find information for some clients.
• There was no clear process in place for maintaining the gym equipment in the service. This meant that clients were at potential risk of injury when using equipment that was not appropriately maintained.