Archived: Sandwell Alcohol Service

Updated 15 August 2016

Swanswell is a national recovery charity with a vision to achieve a society free from problem alcohol and drug use.

Sandwell Alcohol Service is part of the Swanswell group and is the single point of contact for support with alcohol misuse issues in the Sandwell borough of the West Midlands.

Services that are provided by Sandwell Alcohol Service include:

• community tier 2 support for clients who are not alcohol dependent and have non-complex needs
• community tier 3 support for clients with complex needs/alcohol dependency including the provision for community detoxification programmes
• alcohol treatment requirement interventions
• assessment for blood borne virus screening
• support for clients to address debt, housing and legal issues
• multi agency work including with the probation services, social services, general practitioners and the police
• outreach work at local general practitioner surgeries, community centres and a six day a week hospital liaison service.

Regulated activities that Sandwell Alcohol Service is registered with the CQC to provide are:

• Diagnostic and screening procedures

• Treatment of disease, disorder and injuries.

At the time of our inspection a registered manager was in place and had been since 2014. There had not been a previous inspection of this service by the Care Quality Commission.

Updated 15 August 2016

We do not currently rate independent standalone substance misuse services.

We found the following areas of good practice:

• Clients told us that they felt valued and respected by staff in a safe and supportive environment. Staff promoted choice and dignity during their interactions with clients.
• Positive outcomes for clients using the service was above the national average. Re-presentation rates following treatment were low. The service was meeting local and national referral to assessment targets for clients new to the service.
• The service had built effective links with other organisations including the police, probationary service and health services. There was evidence of close working with local safeguarding structures and social services. The service provided outreach work in the community to promote inclusion and access for clients across the borough.
• Staff completed risk assessments and care plans that demonstrated an awareness of individual clients needs. Staff provided harm reduction advice and psychosocial interventions to aid clients recovery.
• Staff had access to mandatory training and additional specialist training to ensure they were suitably skilled and qualified. Supervision of staff took place frequently and all staff had received an appraisal in the 12 months prior to our inspection. Disclosure barring checks were completed and professional registration was monitored for qualified staff.
• Staff adhered to national guidance for the prescription of medication. The service worked with local general practitioners to ensure physical health checks were completed prior to commencement of community detoxification programmes.
• Interview rooms had alarms for staff  to use and these were checked weekly. All client and staff areas were visibly clean and tidy and the clinic room in use by the service was well equipped. Regular checks were made of fridge temperatures used for the storage of medication and records were maintained to evidence this.
• Staff morale was high. Feedback from staff we spoke with was that the team worked well together and supported each other when required. Local and regional managers were accessible and all staff felt able to raise concerns if necessary.

However:

We also found the following issues that the service provider needs to improve:

• The service did not have clear procedures in place for the safe storage and dispensing of prescription pads. We made the registered manager aware of this and action was taken to improve this following our inspection.
• All care records did not show evidence of being written in a style that evidenced client involvement.
• The provider had not carried out a satisfaction survey for clients using the service.