Northamptonshire drug and alcohol rehabilitation facility rated inadequate by care watchdog

A Northamptonshire drug and alcohol rehabilitation facility has been rated inadequate by the care watchdog.

Asana Lodge in Moorend Road, Yardley Gobion, near Towcester, was inspected by the Care Quality Commission (CQQ) between February 6 and February 14, 2023.

In a report published on Friday (June 16), the CQC highlighted a number of concerns including staff failing to make a comprehensive assessment of people’s needs before treatment starts, medicine not always being “managed safely and in line with legislation”, staff not fully completing risk assessments and staff not always completing post-incident checks and more. The company behind the facility has raised concerns about the report due to “legal errors”.

The concerns raised by CQC led to the facility, which can house up to 22 people, receiving an overall rating of inadequate in its first ever inspection after being graded as inadequate for in the ‘safe and well-led’ category, requires improvement for the ‘effective and caring’ category and good for in the ‘responsive’ category.

Craig Howarth, CQC deputy director of operations in the midlands, said: “During our inspection of Asana Lodge, we had serious concerns about the safety and quality of care people were receiving while undergoing detoxification treatment. Leaders didn’t always have the skills, knowledge and experience to provide a safe and effective service for people.

“We found staff didn’t always know about safety risks and weren’t prepared to prevent or reduce them to keep people safe. Although there were care and risk management plans in place, they weren’t accurate as initial medical assessments hadn’t identified risks appropriately. For example, we found allergies hadn’t been recorded and medications that could cause people harm had still been given to them.

“Additionally, inspectors found staff didn’t always review each person’s medicines or provide relevant advice to people and carers about why they should take them. For example, people undergoing an alcohol detox regime were prescribed and administered medicine to help them sleep. However, there was no evidence any discussions had taken place explaining why it was prescribed or potential side effects. The provider must address this as a priority to support people and ensure they are involved in decisions about their own care.

“We’ve reported our findings to the provider, who have informed us that they have started to address some of the issues. We will return to inspect the service and if sufficient progress has not been made, we will not hesitate to take further action to ensure people’s safety and wellbeing.”

A number of good points were also included in the report, including the range of therapies offered, such as yoga, walks, sound therapy and regular one-to-one sessions, with something available seven days a week.

Inspectors also said “staff treated people with compassion and kindness” and that staff understood the individual needs of the people using the service and supported them to understand and manage their treatment and condition.

However, Asana Lodge has raised concerns with the report, which is damning overall despite positive points. The company behind the facility says the report was “legally flawed”, however CQC claims these issues were ironed out before the report was made public. The home claims, however, the issues were not resolved in the CQC’s usual factual accuracy process. The facility says it is requesting the watchdog re-visits the facility.

A spokeswoman for Asana Lodge said: “Following the CQC’s inspection of the home in February, a legally flawed report was prepared. The CQC has since conceded that it made a significant legal error, but it has not yet accepted the home’s request for CQC inspectors to return to either complete the report with the law applied correctly, or to conduct a new inspection.

“The legal error made by the inspectors who attended and created the report was a substantial error about a central judgement in the report and revealed a lack of knowledge on the part of CQC’s pharmacists about medication law.

“We are confident in the quality of the service we deliver and CQC has recognised that the service has improved since the inspection by allowing our appeal against allowing admissions without its prior approval, which had been the case in February.

“We’re pleased with the positive findings noted within the report, and as a responsible provider we are of course acting on any reasonable and legitimate concerns as we are continuously seeking to improve. We look forward to welcoming the CQC back as soon as inspectors are willing to attend.”

Responding to the legal error issue raised by the rehabilitation centre, a CQC spokeswoman added: “Asana Lodge is registered with CQC as a residential substance misuse service, however for the purposes of holding medication in stock, the service meets the definition of a hospital under relevant regulations, and the final inspection report was amended accordingly.

“All providers have the opportunity to submit a factual accuracy response to the draft report, which the provider did. We reviewed their response and made the necessary changes, in line with our usual factual accuracy process, and we are confident it’s an accurate reflection of our findings.

“At this inspection, we identified a number of significant concerns requiring CQC to take enforcement action, and the service was rated inadequate overall. We will return to check improvements have been made to ensure people are receiving safe care.

“Our main priority is always the safety of people using health and social care services, and if we have concerns we will not hesitate to take further action in line with our regulatory powers.”

Asana Lodge added that their position remains the same and they are asking inspectors to visit again.

The CQC spokeswoman also said the watchdog encourages anyone who has concerns about a health and social care service to let them know, via an online feedback form or by calling their customer service centre on 03000 616161.

To read the full report on Asana Lodge, visit the CQC website here.