Birchwood @ Kaleidoscope House

Updated 9 February 2022

Birchwood Residential Treatment Centre – Birkenhead provides support and treatment for up to 20 men and women who require drug or alcohol detoxification and stabilisation. The service provides medically managed detoxification.

Birchwood Residential Treatment Centre - Birkenhead is provided by the Kaleidoscope Project, a not for profit organisation. The Kaleidoscope Project registered as the provider of Birchwood Residential Treatment Centre – Birkenhead in November 2018.

The service had been inspected once previously on the 4 September 2019. The service was rated as good overall at the 2019 inspection and good across all five domains. No regulatory breaches were identified at the 2019 inspection. One action the provider should take was identified around some environmental issues.

We undertook this inspection as part of a random selection of services rated Good and Outstanding to test the reliability of our new monitoring approach.

The service is registered to provide the regulated activities: accommodation for persons who require treatment for substance misuse; and treatment of disease, disorder or injury.

The service has a registered manager.

Care in the service is funded by specific contracts with local authorities, one-off purchases from individual health care organisations and local authorities, and individuals purchasing their own treatment.

What people who use the service say

Clients were positive about the care and treatment they received from the provider. Clients felt safe in the service and described staff as being friendly and attentive. Clients told us that staff listened to them and included them in decisions about their care and treatment.

Clients were complimentary of the group sessions at the service and felt that they were beneficial. The service user audit completed by the provider was very positive about staff and their attitudes towards the clients.

Updated 9 February 2022

Our rating of this location stayed the same. We rated it as good because:

• The service provided safe care. The premises where clients were seen were safe and generally clean. The service had enough staff although did have staffing pressures. Staff assessed and managed risk well and followed good practice with respect to safeguarding.
• Staff developed holistic, recovery-oriented care plans informed by a comprehensive assessment. They provided a range of treatments suitable to the needs of the clients and in line with national guidance about best practice.
• The teams included or had access to the full range of specialists required to meet the needs of clients under their care. Managers ensured that these staff received training and appraisal. Staff worked well together as a multidisciplinary team and relevant services outside the organisation.
• Staff treated clients with compassion and kindness, and understood the individual needs of clients. They actively involved clients in decisions and care planning. Client feedback about the service was positive and they felt involved in their care and treatment. Managers and staff were willing to go above and beyond to provide care and support.
• 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.

However:

• The ligature risk assessment did not have a clear review date or audit trail. Managers could not be assured that this had been appropriately reviewed or that it included all current environmental risks.
• There were issues with the environment such as water damage and damp in areas of the building. The provider was aware of these issues and was taking action with the landlord to address them.
• The first aid kits included items that had expired and not been removed or replaced.
• Supervision compliance rates for the provider’s targets were low for the 12 months prior to the inspection, although the provider had an action plan in place to address this and the compliance rate was improving.

Updated 9 February 2022

Our rating of this service stayed the same. We rated it as good. See the summary above for details.

Updated 2 December 2019

See main body of the report.