Updated 28 September 2026
Change Grow Live (CGL) The Alcohol Service is part of a national not-for-profit provider of drug and alcohol treatment services. The Alcohol Service provides specialist community detoxification and recovery services for adults who require support with alcohol dependence and live in Kensington and Chelsea or Westminster.
The service works in partnership across Kensington, Chelsea and Westminster with other agencies including NHS services, social services, GPs and pharmacies.
The service was open Monday to Friday until 5pm.
There was a registered manager at the service at the time of the inspection.
The service is registered by the CQC on 10 July 2019 to provide the following regulated activity:
- Treatment of disease, disorder or injury
This was a routine inspection.
CGL The Alcohol Service is one treatment system operating from a main site in Pimlico and satellite sites in Kensington and Chelsea. It provides alcohol treatment and detoxification for residents of the boroughs.
The team that inspected the service comprised of 3 CQC Inspectors, 1 specialist advisor and 1 expert by experience.
We found the following areas of good practice:
- The service provided safe care. The premises where clients were seen were safe and clean. The number of clients on the caseload of the teams, and of individual members of staff, was not too high to prevent staff from giving each client the time they needed. Staff followed good practice with respect to safeguarding.
- Staff provided a range of care and treatment interventions suitable for the client group and consistent with national guidance about best practice. They ensured that clients had access to physical healthcare assessments if needed and supported clients to live healthier lives. The service user outcomes in relation to clients successfully completing treatment was above the national benchmark.
- Staff treated clients with compassion and kindness and understood the individual needs of clients. Clients were involved in the service in several ways. They could contribute feedback, attend service user forum meetings and make suggestions for service improvement. Staff welcomed their families and offered support to them, when appropriate.
- The service was easy to access. Staff planned and managed discharge well and had alternative pathways for people whose needs it could not meet.
- The service was well led and the governance processes ensured that its procedures ran smoothly. Leaders had the skills, knowledge and experience to perform their roles. Staff said they felt supported and valued and had good access to a wide range of training.