Cumbria Addictions Service

Updated 5 January 2023

Cumbria Addiction Services is a community substance misuse service serving the population of Cumbria. It offers a fully integrated county-wide approach from six sites. The service is provided by Humankind. Humankind is a national charity.

Cumbria Addiction Services provides harm reduction, substitute prescribing and detoxification programmes for those with addiction to alcohol or illicit substances. The service sub-contracts part of the service to a third sector organisation. That organisation manages low risk alcohol and non-opiate users.

Cumbria Addiction Services was registered with the Care Quality Commission in December 2021. The service is registered for treatment of disease, disorder or injury. This is the first inspection of the service under this provider.

What people who use the service say

We spoke with 10 clients who were using the service and 2 family members of people who were using the service. Clients and family members, we spoke with gave positive feedback on both the service and staff. They felt that staff were supportive and generally felt involved in their care and treatment. They considered staff to be caring, professional and respectful.

Updated 5 January 2023

We have not previously rated this service. We rated it as good because:

• The service provided safe care. The premises where clients were seen were safe and clean. The number of clients on the caseload of the teams, and of individual members of staff, enabled staff to give each client the time they needed. 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. Staff engaged in clinical audit to evaluate the quality of care they provided.
• 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, supervision 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.
• 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.

Updated 5 January 2023

We have not previously rated this service. We rated it as good because:

• The service provided safe care. The premises where clients were seen were safe and clean. The number of clients on the caseload of the teams, and of individual members of staff, enabled staff to give each client the time they needed. 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. Staff engaged in clinical audit to evaluate the quality of care they provided.
• 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, supervision 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.
• 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.