• Community
  • Community substance misuse service

CGL Cambridgeshire

Overall: Good read more about inspection ratings

Mill House, Mill Road, Cambridge, CB1 3DF 0300 555 0101

Provided and run by:
Change, Grow, Live

Latest inspection summary

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Background to this inspection

Updated 28 December 2022

Change Grow Live Cambridgeshire Alcohol and Drug Behavioural Change Service is part of a national Change Grow Live provider who provide a not-for-profit drug and alcohol treatment service. The provider took over this service in October 2018 from the previous provider.

Change Grow Live Cambridgeshire operates a hub and spoke model. The Cambridgeshire services are across three bases in Cambridge, Huntingdon and Wisbech. Satellite sites in Ely, St Neots, St Ives, Ramsey, March, Chatteris and Whittlesey ensure accessibility for clients. The service is open access to anyone with a drug or alcohol issue over the age of 18 years.

The service delivers a range of interventions such as advice and guidance, brief and extended interventions, Foundations of Recovery group work, psycho-social support, medical assessments and treatment. The service provides alcohol screening, advice and brief interventions, blood-borne virus screening and vaccination, access to Hepatitis C treatment, a drug interventions programme, criminal justice services, drug rehabilitation requirements and alcohol treatment requirements services. The service can accommodate those with physical disabilities. Each hub has a number of specialist teams and recovery workers: the opiate team, alcohol team, homeless team and criminal justice team and families safeguarding team. Change Grow Live Cambridgeshire is registered with the Care Quality Commission to provide treatment of disease disorder or injury as a regulated activity. The service had a registered manager in post at the time of our inspection.

What people who use the service say

We spoke with ten clients. Clients told us:

They feel safe using the service for face-to-face appointments, group meetings and telephone appointments.

The service is accommodating to their needs and provides good telephone support, this included the use of text messaging.

The service manages medication and supports recovery well.

The service provides useful information on other services as well as help with finances (including benefits), housing, bereavement counselling, psychological support and social support.

Group meetings were helpful; the gardening group and the acupuncture sessions were particularly helpful.

The service arranges appointments at suitable dates/times and appointments usually run on time. The appointment reminders were very helpful.

The staff are very welcoming.

Staff are easy to talk to and non-judgemental. They are very interested in the person’s well-being.

They feel listened to and have built trusting relationships.

They are offered refreshments which is greatly appreciated.

The service responds to voicemails, text messages and e-mails in a timely manner.

There are regular progress reviews and the service is responsive to individual needs.

They appreciate the consistency in staff however two clients were concerned about low staffing levels in Cambridge.

Clients are offered training to become peer support workers for the organisation and they can be employed when they have completed the training.

Overall inspection

Good

Updated 28 December 2022

Change Grow Live Cambridgeshire Alcohol and Drug Behavioural Change Service is part of a national Change Grow Live provider who provide a not-for-profit drug and alcohol treatment service. The Cambridgeshire services are across three bases in Cambridge, Huntingdon and Wisbech. Satellite sites in Ely, St Neots, St Ives, Ramsey, March, Chatteris and Whittlesey ensure accessibility for clients. The service is open access to anyone with a drug or alcohol issue over the age of 18 years.

We rated this service as good because:

  • The premises where clients were seen were well-maintained and clean.
  • Staff assessed and managed risk well.
  • The service used systems and processes to safely prescribe, administer, record and store medicines.
  • Staff regularly reviewed the effects of medicines on each client's mental and physical health.
  • Staff developed holistic, recovery-oriented care plans informed by a comprehensive assessment.
  • The service provided a range of treatments suitable to meet the needs of the clients and in line with national guidance and 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 and regular appraisal. Staff worked well together as a multidisciplinary team.
  • 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, and clients were seen in a timely manner.

However:

  • Governance structures were not embedded across all three hubs in order to ensure all staff had access to essential information.
  • Managers did not ensure that staff received regular supervision.
  • Managers did not ensure that staff induction records were signed off once completed.
  • The service had a high number of vacancies.