Coventry Drug and Alcohol Service - Change Grow Live

Updated 22 November 2022

Change, Grow, Live (CGL) in Coventry and Warwickshire are part of a national charity who provide free treatment and support to vulnerable people facing addiction, homelessness and domestic abuse. The service in Coventry and Warwickshire specifically provides support with substance misuse.

At the time of the inspection, the service was registered as one location, Coventry and Warwickshire with one Registered Manager. The locations have now been split into two, one location for Coventry and one for Warwickshire and will each have a Registered Manager.

The service operates from four main hubs which open five days a week. There is one main hub in Coventry, located in the city centre. Warwickshire has three hubs, based at Nuneaton, Rugby, and Leamington Spa. Staff also work in smaller venues across Warwickshire because of the rural nature of the county and especially around the area of Stratford upon Avon where there are many small villages and local transport doesn’t run very regularly. The Coventry hub has a single point of contact which is open 24 hours seven days a week. Out of hours this is managed by the locality managers on a rota basis.

The service is commissioned separately for each area by commissioners in Coventry and in Warwickshire. The contract in Coventry started in November 2017 and in Warwickshire it started in May 2018. The contracts vary slightly due to the fact Coventry is a city-based service and Warwickshire is very rural so that they meet the individual needs of the communities they are working in.

Staff are split into teams and cover specific areas of substance misuse such as alcohol and opiate dependencies.

This was an unannounced visit which meant staff and clients did not know that we would be visiting.

What people who use the service say

We spoke with 11 clients and two carers who were positive about the service and described staff as experienced, knowledgeable and non- judgemental. They said that staff treated them with care and compassion and were empathetic to their personal circumstances. Clients and carers felt safe attending the hubs and said that staff were friendly and welcoming.

Clients were complimentary about the range of sessions available to them. They described variety of structured courses which involved a ’12 step’ recovery approach.

Client and carers described good communication. They said there was up to date information on the service’s website and that they were provided with regular information by email about group sessions and local events.

Carers generally described good family involvement and felt part of the recovery process. Some carers said they wanted more information about treatments, how to support clients in crisis, or how to prepare when clients were admitted to rehabilitation centres.

All clients and carers were aware of the complaints procedure and said staff dealt with complaints in a timely manner.

Clients said they had regular treatment reviews and physical health checks. They told us that care and treatment were client-led, personalised and that treatment targeted their individual needs.

Carers told us there were good family support groups including weekly video call sessions.

Some carers felt that appointment times could be more flexible.

Updated 22 November 2022

Our rating of this service stayed the same. We rated it as good because:

• 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 holistic, 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. Staff engaged in clinical audit to evaluate the quality of care they provided.
• 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.
• The service was well led, and the governance processes ensured that its procedures ran smoothly.

Updated 22 November 2022

Our rating of this service stayed the same. We rated it as good because:

• 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 holistic, 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. Staff engaged in clinical audit to evaluate the quality of care they provided.
• 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.
• The service was well led, and the governance processes ensured that its procedures ran smoothly.

Updated 29 May 2019

see detailed findings