Sands Also known as Stonepillow Recovery Service

Sands Stonepillow Recovery Service is a 12-bed residential rehabilitation service for people with drug and/or alcohol problems. The service is designed for people who are abstinent from substances and require stabilisation, as well as for people who have completed a rehabilitation programme who request a second stage.

We rated this service as good because:

• The service provided safe care. The premises where clients were seen were safe and clean. The service had enough staff. Staff assessed and managed risk well and followed good practice with respect to safeguarding.
• Staff developed holistic, recovery-oriented care plans informed by a comprehensive assessment. Staff completed audits to evaluate the quality of care they provided.
• The team had access to the full range of specialists required to meet the needs of clients, with particularly good links to mental health and other substance misuse services. Managers ensured that these staff received training and supervision. Staff worked well together as a 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 their recovery planning.
• The service was easy to access. Staff planned and managed discharge well and had alternative pathways for people whose needs it could not meet. This included ensuring clients who had to leave the service early were supported to keep safe and avoid street homelessness or an overdose, or those whose mental health needs could not be safely met by the service.
• The service was well led and the governance processes ensured that its procedures ran smoothly. A strong audit and feedback cycle supported quality improvement based on client and stakeholder feedback.
• The service had a clear ethos of abstinence based recovery. This supported clients to participate in the ‘12 step fellowships’ whilst giving clients free choice to choose other types of support.

However;

• Some areas of the building required updating and repair. For example, a communal toilet on the group floor was functional but needed repairing. Carpets were generally worn throughout the building, some curtain rails needed replacing, and one bedroom was out of action due to significant damp. The registered manager had escalated these issues to the landlord of the building, and clearly understood the impact of repair issues on both health and safety and the comfort and wellbeing of clients.
• Staff did not receive an annual appraisal at the time of the inspection. However, plans were in place to introduce appraisals in the near future.