The Elphis

We rated Rhodes Recovery as good because:

• The service provided safe care. The premises where clients were seen were safe and clean, although cleaning records were not kept. Staff assessed and managed risk well and followed good practice with respect to safeguarding.
• The service used systems and processes to safely prescribe, administer, record and store medicines. Clients self-administered their own medicines and kept them locked away in their bedrooms. Staff carried out audits on clients’ medicines to ensure they were taking them appropriately.
• Staff developed holistic, recovery-oriented care plans informed by a comprehensive assessment. The service provided a 12-step abstinence-based rehabilitation programme for people recovering from drug and alcohol addiction that national guidance recommended for supporting recovery. Staff used psychoanalytical approaches and psychodrama to support clients with their recovery. Clients also participated in equine therapy, drama and yoga as part of their recovery.
• The team included or had access to the full range of specialists required to meet the needs of clients under their care. Staff received specialist training to support them in their role in addictions, including motivational interviewing and relapse prevention. Staff worked well together as a multidisciplinary team and with 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. Clients provided positive feedback about how staff treated them and said staff knew the issues they faced in their recovery. Staff involved clients’ families in their care and treatment through regular face-to-face meetings. Clients were able to contact staff after they had left if they needed support over the telephone.
• The service was easy to access. Staff planned and managed discharge well and had alternative pathways for people whose needs it could not meet. Staff provided an aftercare programme once clients had moved on from the service. This included a one-hour weekly session and invitations to annual celebrations.
• The service worked towards a model of rehabilitation and abstinence. The service was well managed, and the governance processes ensured that its procedures ran smoothly to operate a successful service for clients.

However,

• The registered manager did not always make notifications to external bodies as needed. We found three notifiable incidents, including two allegations of abuse in relation to service users, that had not been notified to the Care Quality Commission.
• Not all clients had a written early exit plan to ensure they knew what to do if they relapsed or left the programme early. Although staff and clients were able to explain what would happen if a client left the programme early.
• The provider did not stock emergency Naloxone medicine despite admitting clients who presented with risks for illicit opiate and substance misuse and had not risk assessed the need for this.