Somewhere House

Updated 31 May 2019

Somewhere House provides a psychosocial, residential rehabilitation service for clients who require care and support following completion of substance misuse detoxification programmes. It is located in Burnham-on-Sea. The service provides mixed sex accommodations for 14 clients and had 14 clients (two female and 12 male) staying there at the time of this inspection. Clients could be funded through local authorities, private or charitable funding. The service did not offer alcohol or opiate detoxification programs.

The service is registered to provide accommodation for persons who require treatment for substance misuse and there was a registered manager in post at the time of the inspection.

We have inspected this service three times and the service was last inspected in December 2016. The service has not been previously rated as we did not rate substance misuse services until July 2018.

Updated 31 May 2019

We rated Somewhere House as good because:

• The service provided a positive therapeutic community setting for clients who required support following detoxification from substance misuse addictions. Staff has the skills and experience to meet the needs of clients in this setting. All staff (with the exception of two) were qualified counsellors and came from a wide range of therapeutic specialities which allowed them to provide clients with therapies that were in line with national guidance (Drug Misuse and Dependence: UK Guidance on Clinical Management). They received regular clinical supervision and specialist training to help improve the quality of care they provided. They worked well as a team to ensure that they shared information with each other in a frequent and structured way.

• Clients were put at the centre of care. They were included in all aspects of their care to ensure their needs were holistically assessed and met. Clients acted as buddies to each other which helped them settle into the service and aid their recovery. Clients had regular one to one sessions with staff alongside a range of group work.

• Staff ensured that clients were safe by assessing and managing risks posed by the environment and regularly assessing client’s individual risks. Clients were offered testing for blood borne viruses on admission and were encouraged to live healthier lives; including eating a balanced diet and stopping smoking. Clients were registered with a local GP surgery where their physical health and medication needs were met. There were processes for staff to follow in emergencies to keep clients safe from harm, and they made plans with clients on what to do should the client exit treatment early.
• Staff treated clients with compassion and kindness, respected their privacy and dignity and understood the individual needs of clients, including those with protected characteristics (for example, age, disability, gender, religion etc.)
• Somewhere House benefited from a strong and experienced management team that provided positive leadership and who were appropriately involved in the day to day running of the service. Staff said their leaders were supportive and that they all worked well as a team. Staff felt valued and included in service development and felt they had opportunities to develop their careers through additional training and qualifications.

Updated 31 May 2019