Archived: Phoenix Futures Sheffield Residential Service

Updated 18 January 2019

Phoenix Futures Sheffield residential service provides a detoxification and rehabilitation service for people who are recovering from drug and/or alcohol misuse. It is part of a wider provider organisation called Phoenix Futures which is a registered charity. The service accepts national referrals and privately funded clients. It was registered with the Care Quality Commission on 20 January 2011. It is registered for the regulated activity ‘accommodation for persons who require treatment for substance misuse’. The service had a registered manager in place at the time of the inspection. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission to manage the service. Registered persons have legal responsibility for meeting the requirements in the Health and Social Care Act 2008 and associated Regulations about how the service is run. The service is not required to have a controlled drugs accountable officer in place even though staff may store and administer controlled drugs.

The service accepts both men and women can accommodate a maximum of 36 adults. At the time of our inspection there were 27 people using the service, 21 males and six females. The premises are in a large Victorian house, a short bus ride from Sheffield city centre. It is set in its own grounds and consists of one main house and a smaller separate annexe building on the same site. The service provides abstinence based treatment based on a therapeutic community model. On average, clients stay there between 3 and 6 months but this can be longer or shorter depending on individual need and circumstances.The treatment consists of a groupwork programme with talking therapies and complementary therapies. In appropriate cases, the service can provide clients with a medically monitored detoxification from drugs or alcohol. This is carried out by a specialist GP who works under a contract with the service.

At our last inspection of May 2017, we identified one breach of regulation under the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities), Regulations 2014. The service was not rated but we issued one requirement notice in relation to Regulation 17: Good governance. Following that inspection, the provider submitted an action plan setting out the steps they would take to address these breaches. At this inspection, we found the provider had met the requirements of regulation 17 and achieved a rating of good overall.

Updated 18 January 2019

We rated Phoenix Futures Residential Service as good because:

• Staff carried out regular checks to maintain the safety of the environment. Males and females had separate sleeping areas and clients told us they felt safe in the service.
• Staff had achieved high levels of compliance with their mandatory training and were knowledgeable about safeguarding procedures. They reported incidents and learned from things when they went wrong.
• Client care plans were holistic and contained clear goals linked to clients outcomes.
• Staff were well trained and received regular supervision and appraisal.
• Staff treated clients with care and compassion. They understood their needs and involved them in decisions about their care and about how the service was run. Clients could give feedback and make suggestions for improvement.
• Staff involved families and kept them informed about how treatment was progressing where clients wanted them to.
• The service had clear admissions criteria and robust care pathways including access to move-on accommodation.
• Clients had access to activities and could develop work skills and gain vocational qualifications
• The service had strong leaders who were experienced and knowledgeable in addictions. Staff were proud to work for the provider and thought the culture was open and transparent with approachable visible managers.
• The provider had improved governance arrangements and provided managers with access to more performance management data. Oversight of training had improved. Care records systems and incident reporting systems were electronic and accessible to all staff.
• Staff met with each other to share and improve practice. They reviewed service improvement plans and implemented the actions necessary to improve services.

However:

• The defibrillator was kept in a locked area which went against national guidance.
• Client crisis plans did not contain contact details for the local crisis service.
• The provider did not have oversight of compliance rates for staff engagement with supervision.
• The service did not have any formal mechanisms to obtain feedback from carers
• Not all clients were given a timescale for a response when their needs could not be met straight away.
• Some clients said there was not enough variety of food on offer at meal times.
• Service improvement plans did not always specify accurate review dates and we could not identify where higher managers had reviewed actions.

Updated 18 January 2019