Archived: We are With You - Lincoln

Updated 24 June 2019

Addaction Lincoln is a community substance misuse service provided by Addaction, who have 81 mental healthcare services in England and Scotland. The service offers advice, support and treatment on drug and alcohol misuse for adults and young people and their families. In January 2019, Addaction Lincoln changed its operating model to a hub and spoke model, with a central hub in Lincoln city center and satellite sites at Grantham, Boston, Gainsborough, Spalding and Skegness. During this unannounced comprehensive inspection, we visited the hub and all satellite sites. At the time of our inspection the service was providing treatment for 2148 adults and 123 young people across Lincoln and Lincolnshire.

Addaction Lincoln first registered with the CQC in 2012 and is registered to provide treatment of disease and disorder. There are three registered managers posts for this service, two of which are filled and a third post which is vacant.

We last inspected these services under their previous registered locations between 13 and 15 December 2016 and issued the following requirement notices: -

Across Young Addaction sites:

• The service operated both an electronic recording system and a paper-based system. Staff did not always complete or upload all details of a risk assessment onto the electronic database in a timely manner.
• Staff kept key pieces of paperwork with them while working away from base with the intention of uploading the information once a week. This meant staff could not be sure they were aware of all the risk information and care planning relevant to any given young person they might be working with. Colleagues did not have ready access to all client information in the case of emergency.
• Risk assessments had not been updated within the 12-week time frame set by the service.

At Addaction Gainsborough:

• Not all rooms were adequately sound proofed, conversations could be heard in the corridor and adjoining rooms, this meant that confidentiality for clients could not be guaranteed.

We reviewed the breaches in detail at this inspection and found that the provider had taken the required actions to address them.

Updated 24 June 2019

We rated Addaction Lincoln as good because:

• The hub and satellite sites were clean and well maintained. The facilities met the needs of the client group. Environmental risk assessments were detailed and complete. There were no issues with medicine management or administration. The service offered blood born virus testing and vaccination against hepatitis B and hepatitis C.
• The provider reported incidents in a timely manner. All incidents, and complaints, were fully investigated. Staff and managers were open and honest when things went wrong and made changes to practice as a result of learning from incidents.
• Forty six of the fifty one comments we received described staff as excellent, caring, respectful and thoughtful and “going the extra mile” to help people recover. There was a strong, visible person-centred culture. Staff were highly motivated and inspired to offer care that was kind and promoted people’s dignity. Relationships between people who use the service, those close to them and staff were strong, caring and supportive. These relationships were highly valued by staff and promoted by leaders. People who used services were active partners in their care. Staff ensured that all clients had a personalised recovery plan.
• Managers had a good understanding of the service they managed. They could clearly explain how the teams were working to provide high quality care as well as the challenges they faced. Leaders were visible to both staff and people who used the service and worked spent time at different sites every week. Managers were responsive and implemented changes as a result of lessons learnt from serious incidents. An incident highlighted training needs for staff which the provider addressed.

However:

• Staff caseloads were high, averaging 63 clients per recovery worker.
• Six out of 12 care young people’s care records did not document their religious and cultural preferences.

• The provider had conducted a satisfaction survey with people who used the service. The main complaint they encountered was that people had found it difficult to get consistent appointments with the same key worker. Two comments cards also contained the same issue.

Updated 24 June 2019

Updated 28 June 2017

We do not currently rate standalone substance misuse services

Updated 5 August 2016

See overall summary