A rehabilitation service in Merseyside has had its registration suspended in order to keep people safe.
We Can Recover is a Community Interest Company on Belmont Drive which provides residential care and helps detoxify and rehabilitate up to 24 people with non-opiate addictions, such as alcohol or cocaine. The Care Quality Commission has now suspended the registration of the service in order to keep people safe following an inspection in November.
The inspection was carried out after concerns were raised by people using the service about poor staffing levels, an unsafe environment and a lack of support. The immediate action of suspending the provider's registration means that the service is no longer allowed to provide care and treatment to people until a significant improvement is made.
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The damning report highlighted that none of the management team had experience delivering a medically managed detoxification service and people using the service were at serious risk due to a lack of a system for managing medicines.
The report said: "We were not assured that there was effective medicines management to ensure clients received safe care and treatment. We found systems were not robust to ensure safe management of medicines and clients were exposed to serious risk of harm. Staff who administered medicines, were not all suitably qualified and competent to administer medicines safely."
Despite the service's shortcomings, people using the service said the food was of excellent quality and they could contact staff using walkie-talkies if they needed help or support during the first few days of detoxification.
Karen Knapton, CQC’s deputy director of operations in the north, said: "When we inspected We Can Recover, we found several serious concerns which is why we took immediate action to keep people safe and free from harm.
"We were not assured that staff had the qualifications, competence, skills and experience to care for clients safely. Support workers, who were caring for people in alcohol withdrawal were not competent, skilled or experienced in either the assessment and monitoring of withdrawal symptoms or in responding to potentially very serious physical health side effects.
"There was a lack of effective medicines management to ensure clients received safe care and treatment. Staff who administered medicines, were not all suitably qualified and competent to administer medicines safely.
"We observed several ligature risks and it was concerning that staff weren’t fully knowledgeable at mitigating this type of risk especially when some people had a history of suicidal thoughts or attempts.
"It is unacceptable that people using the service reported that showers were out of order, there was no heating or hot water at night and their bedding hadn’t been changed since they arrived. In addition, maintenance issues had not been fixed in a timely manner and there were broken light fittings and televisions as well as various trip hazards throughout the building.
"It was also concerning that the service often didn’t have enough staff on shift to meet people’s needs. Managers hadn’t ensured all staff, including agency staff, received a full induction and understood the service before starting their shift. We spoke with two agency nurses who confirmed they’d had no induction or prior experience in detoxification or substance misuse services.
"We will continue to monitor the service closely to ensure the necessary improvements are made urgently to keep people safe and free from harm before we agree to lift the suspension. If we are not assured people are receiving safe care, the suspension will remain in place."
We Can Recover CIC was approached for comment.
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