Archived: Young Addaction - Grantham

Updated 24 February 2017

Young Addaction Grantham is part of Young Addaction Lincolnshire consisting of three locations at Lincoln, Boston and Grantham. This report relates to the Grantham location.

Young Addaction Lincolnshire is a countywide drug and alcohol outreach service for young people aged 18 and under. The service is provided through schools and other young people’s establishments across Lincolnshire. Young Addaction Lincolnshire is part of the Safer Communities Partnerships initiative and funded by Public Health England.

Young Addaction Lincolnshire also works in partnership with a national resilience programme, offering drug and alcohol awareness education to young people in secondary schools.

Young Addaction Grantham, registered with the Care Quality Commission on 11 September 2012 for caring for children (0-18 years), the treatment of disease, disorder or injury and diagnostic and screening procedures. The service had a registered manager, Rebecca Homer.

CQC last inspected the service on 31 December 2013. The service was found to be compliant with the requirements of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 legislation at the time.

Updated 24 February 2017

We do not currently rate independent standalone substance misuse services.

We found the following issues that the service provider needs to improve:

• Staff did not always complete or upload all details of a risk assessment onto the electronic database in a timely manner. Staff kept key pieces of paperwork with them while working away from base. This meant some key information was not being captured on the electronic system.

• The service operated both an electronic recording system and a paper-based system. Staff were not regularly uploading key information and staff reported they prioritised clinical intervention over this administrative task.

However, we also found the following areas of good practice:

• Clients and carers spoke positively about the service, they felt supported by staff, knew who their key workers were, and said they were always kept informed of meetings and appointments.

• Staff engaged positively with clients to promote recovery. The service used a combination of intervention strategies, staff were creative in adapting information to meet clients and carers varied needs and levels of understanding.

• The service had experienced staff to deliver care and there was a low staff turnover rate. The service had not used bank or agency staff in the twelve months before this inspection. One hundred percent of staff had received mandatory training including safeguarding children and young people. Staff were knowledgeable about safeguarding clients. The service prioritised staff supervision and regular team meetings.

• As well as providing information in other languages, staff encouraged some clients to use a 'speak loud' service via the intranet this read information in different languages. The service addressed a range of cultural and social needs, evidenced by a staff member who worked skilfully with a client dealing with transgender issues.

• There was strong leadership within the service. Staff spoke positively about the managers. Morale was high and staff were passionate about working with the clients in their service.

• The service had established effective working relationships with local and national agencies and organisations. The service had responded to feedback from external agencies and made changes accordingly, such as reviewing the threshold for safeguarding reports, and enabling staff to work flexibly and away from base.

• Staff were aware of their responsibilities within the Gillick Principles and Fraser Guidelines for under 16’s. The principle and guidelines relate to legal terms used to determine whether to give contraceptive advice or treatment to under 16 year-olds without parental consent.