Archived: WDP Brent - Cobbold Rd

We rated Westminster Drug Project Brent - Cobbold Road as requiring improvement because:

• The service had not completed any of the required statutory notifications in respect of service user deaths and allegations of abuse related to the service since registration with the Care Quality Commission in April 2018.

• The service manager was unable to provide documentary evidence in a timely way to show that the quality and safety of the service was being assessed, monitored and improved effectively. Without this documentation it was not clear how the service was evaluating and improving service delivery and managing overarching risks.
• Although staff undertook regular assessments of clients’ physical health and referred them to their GP if they identified signs of deterioration in their health. Staff did not always request a GP summary or follow up physical health information requests to ensure clients’ needs were met.
• Although some staff felt able to raise concerns with management if they needed to, they also reported that management response was often very delayed, which at times affected their morale.
• Although staff consistently developed and reviewed care plans for each client, some care plans lacked personalisation such as identification of patients’ strengths.
• Although the service kept emergency medicine where it was accessible to staff, a review showed that medicine was kept in an environment that temperature was not being monitored.
• Although the premises and equipment were visibly clean the service was unable to provide cleaning records for the clinic room.

However,

• The service provided safe care. The premises where clients were seen were safe and clean. The number of clients on the caseload of the teams, and of individual members of staff, was not too high to prevent staff from giving each client the time they needed. 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 and had alternative pathways for people whose needs it could not meet.