Change Grow Live Barnet

Updated 3 March 2022

Change Grow Live – Barnet is part of the larger Change Grow Live provider who deliver a not-for-profit drug and alcohol treatment service nationally. The service provides specialist community treatment and support for adults and young people affected by substance misuse who live in Barnet.

They offer a range of services including initial advice; assessment and harm reduction services including needle exchange; prescribed medicines for alcohol and opiate detoxification and stabilisation; naloxone dispensing; group recovery programmes; one-to-one key working sessions and doctor and nurse clinics which include health checks, blood borne virus and hepatitis C testing.

The service works in partnership across Barnet with other agencies, including NHS services, social services, probation services, GPs and pharmacies.

The service is registered for the following regulated activity: Treatment of disease, disorder or injury. The service was registered on 15 September 2020. There was a registered manager at the service.

This was the first time we have comprehensively inspected Change Grow Live – Barnet. However, the service received a focused inspection in January 2021 looking at parts of our key question of safe. We rated the service as Requires Improvement for the safe domain. The service received a requirement notice regarding Regulation 12; Safe care and treatment (HSCA (RA) Regulations 2014). The provider had not assessed, and done all that was reasonably practicable, to mitigate the risks of transmission of COVID-19 to clients. The provider did not ensure that the service premises were used in a safe way and had not taken sufficient action to assess, prevent and control the spread of infection. During this inspection this requirement had now been met.

What people who use the service say

Clients told us that staff were respectful and polite. They said staff were caring and genuinely interested in their wellbeing. Clients felt that the service and the staff were non-judgemental. Clients told us that staff are always visible and they could access a doctor in a timely way.

Clients told us that they received advice from the staff about medications and that their care was reviewed regularly. Clients felt involved in their care reviews.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, therapeutic interventions were being facilitated over video calls. Clients told us that they would prefer face to face interventions but acknowledged that video calls and telephone calls were useful. Face to face meetings had been interrupted due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Updated 3 March 2022

This was our first comprehensive inspection of this service. We had previously carried out a focused inspection looking at the safe domain. As a result of this inspection, we rated it as requires improvement because:

• Not all clinical staff had completed basic life support training.
• The number of clients on the caseload of some recovery coordinators was too high, preventing staff from giving each client the time they needed.
• The service had 75 (18%) clients with medical reviews that were overdue.
• The service was not conducting regular local level audits of the quality of clients’ records, recovery planning, and risk assessments which in-turn could impact of the quality of clients’ care and treatment.
• Our findings from the other key questions demonstrated that governance processes did not always operate effectively.
• The service’s risk register did not reflect all the current concerns about the delivery of the service.

However:

• All premises where clients received care were safe, clean, well equipped, well furnished, well maintained and fit for purpose. The service had made improvements since our previous focused inspection and appropriate COVID-19 measures to keep people safe were now in place. Staff assessed and managed risk well and followed good practice with respect to safeguarding.
• Staff developed 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.
• 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.

Updated 3 March 2022