Archived: Addaction - Stratford

Updated 18 October 2016

Addaction Stratford (The Recovery Partnership) provides community based services for adults with drug and/or alcohol related issues. This includes one to one and group based advice, treatment and support, needle exchange and a prescribing service. It is part of Addaction Coventry and Warwickshire, which covers that county and city. Addaction Stratford covers the Stratford area, the towns of Shipston-on-Stour, Wellesbourne, Studley and Alcester, and the surrounding rural area.

We registered this service for diagnostic and screening procedures, and treatment for disease, disorder or injury in 2011. There is a registered manager for the Coventry and Warwickshire service, of which Stratford is one location. Stratford has a manager, who is not a registered manager.

We have previously inspected this service in 2013 and 2014, when it met all standards inspected.

Updated 18 October 2016

We do not currently rate independent standalone substance misuse services.

We found the following areas of good practice:

• The service had enough staff to care for the number of clients and their level of need. Vacancy rates, turnover and sickness absence were all low. The service did not use bank or agency staff, but was able to rely on a dedicated permanent staff team who had a thorough knowledge of the service and the clients. All staff and volunteers had gone through the appropriate checks to ensure they were safe to work with vulnerable adults.

• The environment was visibly clean, well maintained and supported the safety of staff and clients. It was friendly and welcoming, and part of a general health clinic.

• The service appropriately assessed, recorded and managed any risks from or to each client. It raised and referred safeguarding concerns to the relevant agencies. It had mechanisms in place for reporting and learning from incidents and complaints.

• The service assessed all clients at the start of treatment, using appropriate assessment and monitoring tools and ensured holistic and recovery focused support plans were in place.

• The service had a suitable range of project workers and clinicians to support clients. This included doctors and nurses who led regular weekly clinics. The service provided group sessions and support for clients to aid recovery. It worked with partner agencies to help clients get further support before and after discharge, and worked with community mental health teams to support clients with a dual diagnosis of mental health and substance misuse. The service also promoted awareness and protection for problems associated with substance misuse, such as hepatitis.

• Staff showed a good understanding of clients’ fluctuating mental capacity and of the need for informed consent to treatment. Clients were very appreciative of the support, understanding and respect shown by staff. They felt staff listened to them and fully discussed their care and treatment with them. Clients were fully involved in their treatment and recovery. They were able to access advocacy and other support services through a partner agency. The service supported clients in recovery to become recovery champions, which helped them and peers toward recovery.

• There was no waiting list. The service saw clients promptly and was able to commence assessments and treatments promptly. There were weekly evening and outreach services for clients who found the standard times and location a problem. Appointments ran on time and were very rarely cancelled. The service had a policy and procedure for re-engaging with clients who did not attend for appointments.

• Staff were passionate about their work, and everyone worked together in a positive, co-operative and supportive manner. Absence rates were low, and morale was high. Staff were supervised, appraised, inducted and received proper training. They knew how to raise concerns and were confident to do so if needed.

• Governance groups oversaw the work of the team to ensure quality and performance was maintained. Staff were involved in audits. The service met and regularly exceeded national and local performance targets in treating clients. The service responded to complaints appropriately.

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However, we also found the following issues that the service provider could improve:

• The room used for needle exchange was too small for staff to comfortably close the door. This potentially compromised the dignity and privacy of clients who came to exchange needles.

• The provider should ensure that the dignity and privacy of clients is maintained, by ensuring doors are shut when interactions such as urine testing are taking place.

• Data provided by the service did not clearly reflect training that had been undertaken by staff.

Updated 18 October 2016

We are not currently rating substance misuse services.