CQC warns Ocean Recovery and Wellness Centre that it must make improvements

The Care Quality Commission has formally warned Ocean Recovery and Wellness Centre in Blackpool it must make urgent improvements or face further enforcement action.

The warning follows an unannounced visit by inspectors to the centre in June 2015 to follow up on information of concern regarding staffing levels, fire safety and medicines management.

The centre provides 24 hour care and treatment for people who are undergoing detoxification from alcohol or substance misuse.

Following the inspection, CQC issued two warning notices requiring the provider, Ocean Recovery and Wellness Centre Ltd, to take action to protect the health, safety and welfare of the patients.

Findings from the inspection have been published on the CQC website today at www.cqc.org.uk/location/1-1715975287.

Although people using the service spoke positively about their experience of care and treatment and inspectors saw that staff were motivated and committed, they also identified a number of areas where the service must make improvements, including:

• The provider must take action to ensure the service is fully compliant with fire safety and health and safety requirements
• Action must be taken to ensure staff records are complete and available for scrutiny and that staff are supported by appropriate training and supervision.
• The provider must ensure that their complaints policy is up to date and that information regarding complaints is available for all people who use the service.
• An effective process to monitor the quality of the service must be implemented.

Nicholas Smith, Head of Hospital Inspection (Mental Health), said:

“We have told Ocean Recovery and Wellness Centre Limited that they must take action to protect the health, safety and welfare of the people in their care.

Although people using the service told us that they were well cared for and we saw staff were committed to supporting people’s recovery, we also found a number of safety issues that needed to be addressed and a lack of effective quality monitoring.

All patients are entitled to services which are safe, effective, caring, well led, and responsive to their needs. It is a matter of concern that this provider did not have systems in place to monitor the quality of the service being provided.

We expect the provider to make immediate improvements. We will return imminently to check that it has made all the changes we require to ensure people are safe and well cared for. Otherwise we will consider using our legal powers further to protect the people who depend on this service.”

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