Aspinden Care Home

Generally, it is the Local Authority Social Services who pay for placements. However, funds are sometimes available via the NHS either because someone has been under the mental health section or sometimes to enable hospital discharge. As part of social services placements, clients are financially assessed and may have to contribute, but we ask that any contribution is collected by the LA directly.

We cannot accept clients currently using illicit drugs such as opiates, crack or cocaine. However, we can take clients who are prescribed opioids or Methadone.

We cannot take DoLS (Deprivation of Liberty) where locked doors are required, as we operate an open door service.

We suggest that you contact us directly to discuss any individual issues, and we can assess these on a case-by-case basis.

Yes, provided all documentation and funding are in place, we can offer short notice admissions.

We cannot accept clients currently using illicit drugs such as opiates, crack or cocaine. However, we can take clients who have been prescribed opioids or Methadone. Please feel free to contact us directly as every client is different, and we assess each on a case-by-case basis.

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Yes, we offer short-term placements, open-ended stays, and respite care. We operate a harm minimisation model, where our clients are encouraged to lower their alcohol intake to safe levels, which in many cases allows them to move on to a detox programme and/or go back to living independently.

Yes. Aspinden Care Home offers a high complexity service  to manage a wide range of clients with different support needs.

Yes, but this would depend on the client’s specific needs.  We work with people who have early stages of Korsakoffs (alcohol-related dementia). However, if someone has a Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DoLS), requiring them to  stay on the premises, we wouldn’t be able to offer them a placement due to our open-door policy. Please get in contact with our team for an individual assessment.

Once we identify vulnerability, we work with the client’s Social Worker, who will conduct a Mental Capacity Assessment around finance management,  which may result in DOLS  to safeguard the client.

If a client is relocating to London, the nearest DAAS service would need to pick up the prescription for the client prior to their  arrival.

Placements are only open to people with recourse to public funds. However, someone with NRPF might be able to access charitable funding. We would need the referrer to source this.

Yes, you can contact our local team to confirm availability over the dates required. Please note you will need to provide evidence of funding.

Personal reviews take place every six weeks alongside any additional updates that may be necessary.

If a client is relocating to London, the nearest DAAS service would need to collect the prescription for the client prior to their  arrival.

What 1 to 1 psychological therapy do you provide, ands it Trauma-informed?

While we don’t provide in-depth psychotherapy at Aspinden, we provide personalised care planning sessions and daily check-ins with staff on a 1-2-1 basis. Staff are always available to support any client struggling during their stay.

We also train all our staff in the PIE model (Psychologically Informed Environment), where we reflect on what we are doing and how we can be more effective, empowering our clients through a range of tools, including The Alcohol Star^TM.

Roles include Service Managers, Administration, Personal Wellbeing and Health Coordinators, Volunteers, Maintenance and Housekeeping.

We do not allow smoking within the building. Clients are permitted to smoke outside in a designated area in the car park.

Availability varies throughout the year. There isn’t a waiting list currently, and a limited number of rooms are available.

The organisation has a clinical governance board that sits alongside our trustees. Its membership includes representatives from the trustees and the clinical team. The Board aims to review efficacy against the continual changes to best practices and assess and cascade learning from any incidents.

To decide whether we proceed with admissions, we need to capture all the necessary information to have a complete picture of a person’s physical and mental health and risk-related factors.

We ask referrers to provide all the information available to them when completing the referral form and attach any other relevant documents or reports.

We will cover any additional information required during the client’s formal assessment.

We require all staff, visitors, and prospective and new clients to be fully vaccinated to gain access to Aspinden Care Home.

Admission of new residents from the community

Residents admitted to a care home from the community will not need to self-isolate. Instead, they should:

• take a PCR test before they’re admitted (within the previous 72 hours)
• take a PCR test on the day of admission (day 0)

The individual risk assessments should take into account:

• whether the person admitted is fully vaccinated – that is, they have received their primary doses and any eligible booster dose
• local guidance from the director of public health about community transmission of variants of concern
• the circumstances at the person’s home, prior to admission – whether the individual has been in contact with someone with COVID-19 symptoms during the previous 10 days

If the risk assessment shows that an incoming resident should self-isolate, this should be for 10 days. It may be possible to reduce the period of self-isolation.

If a resident is required to self-isolate upon admission from the community, this should take place within the care home. Self-isolation should not take place within the resident’s own home or be shared between the resident’s own home and care home. This is because care home managers are not able to monitor isolation periods within the resident’s own home.

Admission of residents discharged from hospital

Every individual in hospital who is ready for discharge to a care home must receive a COVID-19 PCR test result within 48 hours prior to discharge, except for those who have previously tested positive for COVID-19 and are within 90 days of their symptom onset or positive test date (if asymptomatic). The test result must be shared with the individual themselves, their key relatives or advocates, and the relevant care home provider in advance of the discharge taking place.

All individuals who test positive should be discharged to a designated setting in the first instance to complete their self-isolation period. The total isolation period can be shared across the hospital and a designated setting. Please see the designated settings guidance for further information.

Individuals who receive a negative test result within 48 hours prior to discharge should be discharged to a care home where they will not be asked to self-isolate, unless:

• They were discharged following an emergency admission (see below)
• There is possible contact with a known outbreak in the part of the hospital where they were treated
• If they are a contact of a suspected or confirmed positive case

For more information, please visit: Admission and care of residents in a care home during COVID-19 – GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

No.

Yes, there is a ban on all Illicit substances and illegal drugs at this service.

Personal IT equipment is allowed, and clients  have access to the service’s Wi-Fi network.

Yes.

We can meet cultural needs through our food menu upon request. When there is a language barrier, we can provide an interpreter. We charge translation service costs to the referring agency and ensure this is a known requirement and agreed in advance of admission. We can make prayer time available and online religious sermons.

A local GP visits Aspinden Care home once a week to attend to all health needs and carry out required investigations as per primary care protocols. The nursing staff are available daily.

• Nurse leads on medication ensuring staff competence
• Carryout weekly physical checks
• Running the Clinic with the GP
• Ensuring clients attend hospital appointments
• Following up client hospital admissions

We assess every referral on a case by case basis and we discuss their particular requirements with the client’s social worker team. In cases where direct access to funds are a trigger for higher alcohol consumption, clients often ask us to lock bank cards away and restrict the access to their funds to a limited amount of money per day.

We administer medication by trained staff under the established professional Code of Conduct. All staff administering medication receive annual medication supervision overseen by the Clinical Lead in  SIG Equinox Care.

We operate a policy in accordance with the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) Standards for the Administration of Medication in line with associated legislation.

An electronic system known as Omnicell eMAR (Electronic Medication Administration Records) manages medication administration using specific barcoding related to the client and  the medication’s original packaging to automate  management. The administration process makes it safe, simple and compliant for everyone involved. The eMAR helps digitally manage, schedule and track the administration of all our client’s medication. The system is linked with our local Pharmacist  to mitigate risks around medication administration errors and potential health issues.

Yes. However, we encourage residents to leave their rooms and socialise with other residents. We organise days out and weekly activities to facilitate the above.

Medication is managed and administered by staff. Residents do not have access to dependency forming medication.

Aspinden recently moved from being a CQC registered Treatment Service to a Care Home with Nursing to reflect better the long-term stays of many of our residents alongside their higher-level needs of care and support. This resulted in us being under “Requires Improvement”.

The CQC requested improvements under Regulations 9, 12 and 17 and we have completed all recommendations in full.

A breakdown of the improvements is as follows:

We welcome your questions on these areas of improvement and are happy to share what we have learned from this feedback and the changes implemented.

We are in regular contact with our inspector and are confident that when we are next inspected we will achieve a Good or Excellent in all areas.