Archived: Addaction - St Helens

Updated 17 June 2015

Addaction is a national charity which provides support to people to help them recover from substance misuse.  Addaction have been commissioned to provide substance misuse services for adults in St Helens since 2012. The service accepts self referrals from people who are concerned or experiencing negative effects from their drinking or drug use. It also takes referrals from external sources such as social services and the criminal justice system. It works in a shared care approach with 12 local GPs.

Addaction - St Helens is commissioned to deliver pharmaceutical, psychosocial and recovery orientated interventions to help people recover from substance misuse.  The service provides injecting drug users with access to sterile needles, syringes and other equipment and the safe disposal of used needles and syringes. It also offers a 'breaking the cycle' project which works with the families of those using the services.

Updated 17 June 2015

Addaction is a national charity which provides support to people to help them recover from substance misuse.  Addaction - St Helens is commissioned to deliver pharmaceutical, psychosocial and recovery orientated interventions to help people recover from substance misuse. This is a community based service for adults.

We identified a number of areas of good practice. The service ensured that risks were assessed and managed in providing treatment to people and running the service. Testing and treatment for hepatitis C was offered on site. The service offered flu vaccinations to all those being prescribed medication as a substitute to their opiate use.

The environment was clean and well equipped. Staffing levels kept people safe and met people's needs. Incidents were reported, reviewed and lessons learnt were shared with staff.  Comprehensive assessments were carried out in a timely manner. A psychosocial component was integrated into treatment for all people using the service.  Staff were well trained and supported.

Staff were respectful to people using the service offering the appropriate level of support.  Measures were effective to maintain confidentiality. Recovery plans reflected peoples individual needs but we did identify that on occasions, they could be more specific and detailed. There was good provision to support family and friends of those using the service.

There were no waiting times to access treatment.  Peoples' diversity was respected and the service made provisions to meet individual needs.There was a clear process to investigate and feedback complaints.

Staff were aware of the organisation's vision and values.  There was an effective organisational governance system. Staff felt well supported by managers and there was a commitment to improving the service.  We did not identify any regulatory breaches on this inspection.