I made my film,
Understanding Mum
,
after seeing the festival promoted on
Addaction’s Facebook page. I have
previously raised money for them, so
thought this was another great way to
support drug and alcohol charities.
I feel there’s so much stigma
attached to addiction. People feel that
addicts should just stop, and it’s their
fault, but after many years of trying
to understand my mum’s behaviour I
strongly believe it is a disease out of
the person’s control. I also didn’t feel
that people understood the impact
being the child of an alcoholic had on
the child, both at the time and as an
adult, and after much support I really
see a link between my behaviour now and my upbringing.
The part that was the most beneficial was how much it helped me work
through my grief again, which was a surprise after so many years. But after I had
my son it had really come to the surface again, as I struggled to see how my
mum couldn’t put me first.
Making the film was a bit of a rollercoaster ride. Some days I could spend
hours on it and others I’d have to stop after ten minutes, as it became too
intense to think about. It started off 20 minutes long, and it was difficult to
prioritise which bits to keep in. My husband helped me with the editing and
filming, which I hadn’t got a clue about! But I tried to focus on the message I
wanted to portray.
After winning the competition I got in touch with NACOA as I felt this charity
would be great to support as its all about the families affected. I was really
pleased they used my film for children of alcoholics week, and it was also shown
in the House of Commons. I’m also pleased I can help by being on the judging
panel of this year’s Recovery Street Film Festival.
The Recovery Street Film Festival invites entries by 29 July
from anyone who has experience of recovering from drug
or alcohol addiction, whether themselves or a loved one.
Prizes will be awarded for first, second and third place, with
shortlisted entries shown at festivals throughout the UK.
No experience of film-making necessary – visit
Over 50 jobs currently online:
24 |
drinkanddrugsnews
| July/August 2016
LegaL
NICOLE ANSWERS:
According to CQC’s ‘Scope of Registration’
, this phrase describes the
regulated activity of providing residential accommodation together with treatment
for substance misuse. The provider must provide ‘accommodation’ and ‘treatment’
and, significantly, the service user must utilise both at the same time. The provider
may provide accommodation on a different site from treatment but, if linked, they
are in scope. As CQC explains ‘the accommodation is provided because someone
requires and accepts treatment’.
The definition of ‘treatment’ within this regulated activity is wide-ranging,
covering recognised interventions frommanaged withdrawal or detoxification to
structured psychological programmes. In essence, if your form of treatment falls
within the definition, and if to accept treatment a service user will be given
accommodation, your service is within scope.
The question raises three conditional queries. Firstly, what if the treatment is
‘voluntary and freely given’? I assume this refers to there being no cost to the
service user. As readers will know, many programmes are free to service users,
whether provided by charity or paid for by insurance. This would not alter whether
the treatment is regulated for CQC purposes.
Next, where there is ‘no local authority/ NHS involvement’. This is an interesting
question. One interpretation is that the service does not take referrals from local
authorities or the NHS. The simple response is that how service users arrive at the
service does not change the nature of the regulated activity once there. Another
interpretation is that the provider does not believe they are subject to local
authority or NHS oversight. Whilst the latter can certainly be true, local authority
safeguarding teams will always have some level of oversight and investigatory
powers in relation to any provider providing regulated treatment in their vicinity.
The last condition is that treatment is ‘specifically excluded as a legal condition
of residence’. I am unsure whether this means that the service user’s
accommodation ‘contract’ purposefully omits a clause making treatment
mandatory, or whether the provider is prohibited from providing treatment at the
accommodation and must do so elsewhere. In either scenario, the answer is the
same: if accommodation is provided because the service user requires and accepts
treatment, it is within scope. No amount of clever drafting will change this.
If you fall within the definition you must be registered. It is vital that providers
interrogate their systems and practices to check whether they are within scope. The
consequences of finding out too late that you are without appropriate registration
can be costly, financially and in terms of reputation; whilst the advantages of
registration can include greater recognition, credibility and higher referral numbers.
Nicole Ridgwell is solicitor at Ridouts LLP, a practice of health and social care
lawyers,
Send your legal queries to
Nicole Ridgwell
of
Ridouts answers your
legal questions
LegaL eye
What does ‘treatment is a condition of the provision of the
accommodation’ mean? If treatment is provided but is voluntary
and freely given, with no local authority/NHS involvement, and
specifically excluded as a legal condition of residence in the
tenancy/contract/licence, what then? Within scope or not?
DOWN RECOVERY STREET
With just a few weeks left to enter the Recovery
Street Film Festival, last year’s winner
Ceri Walker
explains how she was inspired to make her film
