10 November 2021
During a routine inspection
Gloucester House is a residential substance misuse service in Highworth, a small market town close to Swindon. The service delivers psychosocial treatment for up to 13 males based on the 12-step programme. This is a set of principles that assists people suffering from addiction by providing individual action steps.
Our rating of this location went down. We rated it as requires improvement because:
- There was a lack of oversight and a lack of quality assurance processes in place. The service did not have a risk register and few audits took place. Where audits did take place these were often incomplete or there was a lack of evidence of any action having been taken.
- Compliance with mandatory training was very low. Only 25% of staff were up to date with their safeguarding training.
- Staff were supposed to receive supervision every six weeks, however this was not taking place.
- Regular team meetings did not take place which meant staff did not have an appropriate forum to communicate with one another.
- The different teams within the service did not operate well as a multidisciplinary team.
- Clients did not have contemporaneous care records in place.
- There was no alarm system in place to enable clients in their bedrooms to summon assistance from staff in the event of an emergency.
However:
- There was a clear focus on recovery within the service and clients were encouraged to take ownership of this.
- Clients we spoke with gave excellent feedback about the service and the way staff treated them. They told us they felt involved in their care.
- There was a clear process in place for clients who were self-administering medicines.
- Staff worked well with other agencies to ensure the best outcomes for clients, for example they had a positive working relationship with a local GP surgery.
- There was a good range of activities on offer for clients, including woodwork, pottery, gardening and art.
- No clients at the service had tested positive for COVID-19 since the start of the pandemic.