Alternatives West Dunbartonshire Community Drug Services Housing Support Unit Housing Support Service

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1 Alternatives West Dunbartonshire Community Drug Services Housing Support Housing Support Service 51 Jean Armour Drive Clydebank G81 2EX Telephone: Type of inspection: Unannounced Inspection completed on: 31 August 2017 Service provided by: Alternatives West Dunbartonshire CDS, a company limited by guarantee Service provider number: SP Care service number: CS

2 About the service Alternatives West Dunbartonshire is a registered charity that provides a range of support services across West Dunbartonshire. Alternatives West Dunbartonshire Community Drug Services housing support unit is registered with the Care Inspectorate to provide a housing support service. The service is located in a housing estate in Clydebank close to local amenities and transport links. The service offers a core and cluster model of support to adults experiencing difficulties associated with addictions. The stated mission of the service is 'Alternatives West Dunbartonshire, as a community recovery programme, aims to support individual based on their needs incorporating life changing experiences and set them on their own path towards a fulfilling lifestyle'. At the time of this inspection the service was supporting 31 individuals. What people told us During this inspection we met with a number of people being supported by the service. Each person told us about the difference that the service had made to their lives. People spoke positively about the staff and managers as well as the support they receive from their peers. We also received nine completed questionnaires from people being supported, comments included: "Don't know where to start, without this place I would no doubt be back in prison where I've spent most of my life or dead.". "Its given me the chance to change my life and supports me in getting to where I need to get to and helps me improve my life and future." "Before coming here I honestly couldn't see a future for me or a place in society, its helped me structure my life and routine." "All the staff in the house go the extra mile to meet my needs." "All of the staff take as much time as need be to get to the bottom of what's going on with me." "The service has served me really well, it saved my life." Self assessment We did not ask the provider to submit a self assessment document prior to this inspection. From this inspection we graded this service as: Quality of care and support 5 - Very Good

3 Quality of staffing Quality of management and leadership not assessed 4 - Good What the service does well Appreciating individuals and making them feel safe in equal measures was fundamental to this service model. Those were principles echoed by people using the service who were observed to be caring towards each other and told us "Its like a family here". Peer support is key to the success of this service. We found committed staff supporting people in a respectful and collaborative way and this was contributing to positive outcomes. It was evident that trusting and productive working relationships had developed. People told us that staff would "go the extra mile", for instance coming in on their days off to provide support to appointments. This helped people feel valued. We heard about the positive changes in peoples lives since using the service. This included maintaining abstinence, repairing fractured family relationships, having contact with their children, receiving medical treatments, attending college and volunteering. A strength of the service was the way that people were connected to the recovery community and wider communities. This helped develop supportive networks and provide structure. There were good opportunities for people to practice new skills including taking up peer facilitator roles within the community programmes and house manager roles within the service. These helped promote leadership values. Employing staff with lived experience of recovery was helping to inspire those who were early on in their recovery journey. Some staff were trained in areas such as understanding trauma and suicide prevention and most staff had received naloxone training. This meant that the team had a range of relevant skills to help them perform with confidence within their role. (Naloxone is a medication designed to rapidly reverse opioid overdose). The service manager was described by staff as accessible and regular team meetings were an opportunity to share ideas. What the service could do better The registered manager acknowledged that since the previous inspection there had been a focus on safeguarding the financial sustainability of the service. As a consequence, quality management processes had not been well maintained. Supervision for instance fell short of the providers own standard and systems for recording staff training were not up to date. Regular staff supervision provides good governance and is key to ensuring that staff are supported to feel valued within their role. Deficits in staff knowledge should be identified through a training needs analysis and a training plan developed. We indicated the training needs highlighted through our conversations with staff. This included mental health training.

4 Areas for improvement that we identified at the previous inspection had not been progressed. A service development plan will help the service identify, prioritise and effect some of the necessary improvements. This should be informed by the findings from the services own quality assurance processes and feedback from external evaluation. We have made a recommendation in respect of this. We talked about the providers approach towards risk assessment and supporting people to take risks in areas that will help promote independence. This includes people taking responsibility for managing their medication. More robust risk assessment and risk management strategies will help ensure that the service is working in a person centred way. We asked the provider to submit a variation to reflect the increased occupancy. Requirements Number of requirements: 0 Recommendations Number of recommendations: 1 1. A service development plan should be created to help drive continuous improvements at this service. This should be informed by the feedback of people using the service, staff and other stakeholders and well as internal and external audits. National Care Standards - Housing Support Services - Standard 3 - Management and Arrangements. Complaints There have been no complaints upheld since the last inspection. Details of any older upheld complaints are published at Inspection and grading history Date Type Gradings 6 Oct 2015 Announced (short notice) Care and support 4 - Good 5 - Very good Management and leadership 4 - Good

5 Date Type Gradings 28 Nov 2013 Unannounced Care and support 5 - Very good 5 - Very good Management and leadership 4 - Good 3 Oct 2011 Unannounced Care and support 5 - Very good 4 - Good Management and leadership 4 - Good 4 Feb 2009 Announced Care and support 5 - Very good 5 - Very good Management and leadership 5 - Very good

6 To find out more This inspection report is published by the Care Inspectorate. You can download this report and others from our website. Care services in Scotland cannot operate unless they are registered with the Care Inspectorate. We inspect, award grades and help services to improve. We also investigate complaints about care services and can take action when things aren't good enough. Please get in touch with us if you would like more information or have any concerns about a care service. You can also read more about our work online at Contact us Care Inspectorate Compass House 11 Riverside Drive Dundee DD1 4NY enquiries@careinspectorate.com Find us on Facebook Other languages and formats This report is available in other languages and formats on request. Tha am foillseachadh seo ri fhaighinn ann an cruthannan is cànain eile ma nithear iarrtas.