Spring / Summer 2011

Excellent ISO assessment 2011

In March, Castle Craig was again subject to the detailed scrutiny of the ISO auditor Ron Rivens for Moody International.

As well as reviewing the mandatory quality management system controls such as internal auditing this audit focused specifically on the management of therapeutic treatments in the Intensive Treatment and Extended Care Units (ITU & ECU respectively). The auditor also examined improvements made to the service since the last audit and the continuing assessment of patient feedback. Another area of scrutiny was the gymnasium and fitness schedules for patients. The outcomes of this review were excellent and should be very pleasing to the therapeutic staff as their work was a key area of scrutiny.

These were some of the quotes following the inspection: “The hospital has again demonstrated a continuing and serious commitment to the delivery of its quality policy and objectives." " … [The] audit has been the subject of patient focus which the hospital overwhelmingly achieves in all its areas service delivery." “The personable nature of all the staff and good leadership …represent a major contribution to the achievement of this result.”

In respect of his assessment of Jo Sutherland’s work in the Fitness department he spoke of “an impressive area of control.” The “dedicated and highly committed” work of Mary McCann and Trevor Owen to ensure that we demonstrate that we maintain our standards is also singled out.

New Outcomes Study

A new outcomes study commissioned by Castle Craig shows 61% of patients maintaining abstinence from drugs or alcohol at the time of follow-up with 89% living with reduced alcohol or drug use.

This follow-up was done in the year 2010 and tracked Dutch patients admitted to Castle Craig between 07.05.07, to 16.12.08. Out of the 156 patients followed-up, there was a very good 72.4% response rate. The average follow-up period was 67 weeks.

92% of patients followed-up had improved and 8% remained the same. None got worse. The success rates were calculated thus: 61% of patients maintaining abstinence from drugs or alcohol at the time of follow-up, 69% were achieving low problem severity at follow-up, and 89% were living with a reduction in measured levels of disfunction.

The independent research was carried out by Dr. George Christo DipHE, BSc, PhD, PsychD, CPsychol, AFBPsS.

Dr. Tank on the Neurobiology of Trauma

In April, Dr. Parul Tank, Consultant Psychiatrist from Mumbai, and locum consutlant psychiatrist to Castle Craig, conducted a training for staff about the Neurobiology of Trauma.

The training examined the brain structure including stress response systems, information processing and emotion regulation systems - and effects on these of psychological trauma.

The training involved a series of brain scans to demonstrate physical changes in the brain at times of post-traumatic stress - for example areas in the brain that are suppressed during traumatic memory.

Also examined and discussed were the role of medications, therapies and the role of EMDR - for example in stimulating hippocampus and prefrontal cortex areas of the brain.

Neuropsychology for rehabs - Dr. Fraser Morrison

On the 10th May, Dr. Fraser Morrison (pictured) held an in-service training and discussion forum on the subject of “Neuro—psychological assessment of patients with alcohol related brain damage.”

The talk was well received by staff – described as, “Excellent… it was well presented and thought provoking. The statistics were impressive – it has been shown to take 4 years for blood flow to get back into the brain as before following ARBD … and it is interesting how the hyperbaric oxygen therapy at Castle Craig can help with this process.”

Dr. McCann, the Medical Director, also attended the talk by Dr. Fraser Morrison who is an external consultant for Castle Craig. She said of Dr. Morrison’s specialist input, “It is good that we have access to a clinical neuro-psychologist if our screening indicates that someone may be significantly cognitively impaired in order to better identify the extent of the cognitive deficits. Having access to a specialist such as Dr. Morrison will enhance the quality of care planning.”

New Patient Satisfaction Report, February 2011

Our patients have given us very good overall scores of 81% for the intensive treatment unit, and 71% for the extended care unit. In particular patients liked the staff and rated the counselling and group therapy very highly. Some patients wanted more outside activities, more modern accommodation and better videos to go alongside the lecture series – we have responded to all of these issues and we are upgrading several of the rooms, have planned more outdoor activities, and have obtained more modern videos, which we hope will be noticed at the time of the next satisfaction report.

We wish to thank all the patients who completed their surveys prior to discharge from Castle Craig. The outcomes of these questionnaires are extremely important and help the staff to improve the very good quality of the services provided.

Training news: New Diploma

Castle Craig is in talks with Napier University to extend the diploma course we offer to a post-graduate level.

Dr. Glynis Read (pictured), head of training said, “We are re-crediting a course at level 8 (under-graduate), and getting credit rating for a new course at level 11 – which will be a post-graduate course.”

Visit to Society of Occupational Health + other conferences

In March, Dr. Florian Kaplick (pictured) presented to the Society of Occupational Medicine conference in Glasgow on the subject of Rehabilitation. Dr. Jennifer Schreiber of the Society of Occupational Medicine wrote following the talk to thank Dr. Kaplick for the success of the talk he gave about Rehabilitation as well as the subsequent discussion.

Castle Craig was also present at the Glasgow conference Sustaining Recovery, where Richard Scanlan was a main Speaker. Richard spoke for 15 minutes about Improving Access to Treatment. The talk was well received.

Richard was again present – along with Mark Abrami – at the Tackling Drugs Deaths conference in March where they took the stand to present questions on behalf of Castle Craig.

In the same month Gordon Hogg, Head Therapist, attended the Recovery Roadshow in Inverness.

Family programme audit

Castle Craig has provided a family programme for over 25 years; it has proved to be very important to recovery. As part of a recent audit, staff and patients examined information collected form the people who attended the family programmes.

100% of attendees were happy with the programme and enjoyed the lecture and meeting others. Aspects of the programme which were examined included the duration, content, teaching methods, accommodation, lectures and length.

Comments included, “I’ve gained insight.” “It was very informative and they took the time for one on one.” “Provided tools on how to manage when back in real life.”

The information gathered in this audit has been used to garner recommendations which will be used to make further programmes even better. Castle Craig’s lead family therapist is Lee Taylor (pictured).

Professional Open Days - Feedback

Castle Craig’s series of Professional Open Days continued in January, March and May of this year. Visitors have included representatives of the NHS, DAAT teams, and other publicly funded bodies, as well as employers, personnel executives and other medics, students and professionals.

Feedback from the most recent visit in May was highly praising of the programme and of Castle Craig in general. “Extremely informative… I am astonished that I hadn’t heard about Castle Craig… staff seemed genuinely enthusiastic about Castle Craig which had a captivating effect.” Another said, “Very informative…so glad to hear about the holistic approach.”

“Certainly an impressive medical centre…the ‘meet the clients’ session was proof that the treatment was armed to achieve the highest level of success for each and every client.”

“A real eye-opener … and I can take a lot back to my work place.”

“A very informative visit… really interesting to see the contrast between services provided by the NHS and the facilities available here.”

Castle Craig in the media

Castle Craig has gathered a degree of media coverage in the first quarter of this year.

In the first case the Scotsman picked up on Castle Craig’s introduction of dance therapy in the form of Scottish reeling. Elsewhere a former Castle Craig employee Stephen Curran was running for the Scottish Parliament against the Health Secretary Nicola Sturgeon:

The Herald wrote, “Stephen Curran made his pitch for a seat in Parliament. Soft-spoken, personable and bespectacled, he claims Lithuanian and Irish genes as well as those he inherited from his Argyllshire great-grandmother. Thirty-eight-years-old and married with two children, he studied law as a post-graduate in Dundee after which he worked in IT. Later he was employed at Castle Craig hospital, which specialises in treating addiction and where Steven Purcell, the former leader of Glasgow City Council, sought help last year.

Elsewhere Castle Craig chairman, Peter McCann (pictured) wrote a robust defence of the Rehab services on offer in the UK, which appeared in the comments section of an article in the Daily Telegraph entitled, “Have we lost the Rehab Battle.”

http://fashion.telegraph.co.uk/news-features/TMG8395112/Have-we-lost-the-rehab-battle.html

In his response, Peter responded to the main points of the article and concluded in this way,

“What, of course, is of far greater concern is the lack of provision of good quality addiction treatment in the UK for those who cannot afford private care, and the failure of the statutory authorities to fund the treatment. It is generally accepted that addiction is a brain disease and the brain has to repair itself if there is to be lasting recovery. The conditions for this to occur are in most cases very difficult to provide within the community and the NHS and local authorities must brace up to the fact that the morbidity and mortality associated with addictive disease will continue to grow until good quality treatment is provided.”

Updates @ www.castlecraig.co.uk

The Castle Craig website continues to develop and grow to provide new quality information.

We have new pages about:

Trauma Therapy
Cognitive Behavioural therapy
Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing
The 12 Steps
Abstinence
Treatment Effectiveness
Why Choose Castle Craig
Professional Open Day

We also now have an updated Picture Gallery, and an updated page about hyperbaric oxygenation therapy. Updates to the website continue to be managed by our Web Officer – Victoria Jimenez (pictured). If you have any recommendations then contact her at v.mccann@castlecraig.co.uk

A new Castle Craig Brochure for 2011

Early in 2011 Castle Craig’s brochure has been completely updated with new information and pictures. Professionals or patients who are enquiring about treatment at Castle Craig can now read summaries about aspects of our treatment programme written by the Medical Director, Dr. Margaret Ann McCann. Photographs of staff members, and testimonials from former patients, and quotes from key staff members at Castle Craig all contribute towards the content of the new brochure. You can order a copy by contacting Castle Craig or by downloading from the website here:

http://www.castlecraig.co.uk/experience-castle-craig/brochure

Therapeutic Art Blog

Artist in residence, Ingrid Christie, has launched a new Castle Craig Art Group blog. Ingrid describes it as an opportunity for patients to show friends and relatives the work they are doing. This is a factor in not only communicating their art work to friends and family but also in improving self-esteem and reaching a wider audience of people who might benefit from therapeutic art.

The blog is updated every two weeks, and contains a number of historic paintings looking back over the last few years that the art group has been active. There is a current volume of some 25 paintings.

You can visit the blog here: http://castlecraigartgroup.wordpress.com/

Richard Scanlan appointment

Senior therapist, Richard Scanlan, has been appointed our therapeutic lead in external relations. This appointment is part of our strategy to ensure that we as an organisation are represented at the public interface. As Richard himself has stated, it is important that we are not squeezed out of the current debate and have a clear voice. As part of this role, Richard, along with other key staff members will be tracking the main conferences on addiction treatment and public health matters and ensuring our attendance and participation.

Upcoming conferences at which Castle Craig will take part include the Royal College of General Practitioners in Harrogate in May, the STRADA conference in Glasgow in June, and May’s UKESAD conference in London.

Equine Assisted Therapy meets Parelli Horsemanship

Two staff from Castle Craig – Aureol Gillan (pictured) and Dominic McCann – attended the Parelli Celebration on the 9th April. The event’s main focus was to show the individual character of horses, how to recognise the four different types of ‘Horsen-ality’ – i.e. the personality of horses. Throughout demonstrations and talks and enterainment over the course of two days in the Birmingham NEC arena, there was a great deal of insight into what causes horses to shift behaviour, and how to train horses to be calm, trusting, motivated and willing.

Aureol – who run’s Castle Craig’s equine assisted therapy said, “It’s amazing how I can use what I learned in Birmingham for the equine therapy here. There is a lot of cross over with what we do here. In time I want to make a presentation to staff on this subject.”

News from the Extended Care Unit

At Easter a special lunch was organised at ECU, with a special address read out which had been written by some of the patients. Table decorations were in place, with special yellow menus and yellow flowers, and events such as easter egg rolling and an easter egg hunt took place. There were also huge chocolate easter eggs as a gift to all the patients from Dr. McCann. The week after, the Royal Wedding also provided a morning off from the ECU programme and a chance for patients to watch the event on television.

Outings at ECU in the last few months have included the Edinburgh Dungeons, New Lanark (a UNESCO World Heritage Site), Edinburgh Zoo, with an upcoming trip to Edinburgh Castle. Other activities that have started up or continue are reeling or ‘Scottish country dancing’ nights – which were recently picked up by the Scottish press, and karoke nights which gives patients the chance to dance, sing and have some clean and sober fun on a night off.

New staff for 2011

Castle Craig welcomes the following new staff who have started at Castle Craig since the beginning of the year:

Mhairi Beaton – staff nurse

Rebecca Gates – Staff Nurse

Nicola McIntyre – Staff Nurse

Gareth Edwards – Catering Assistant

Doreen Frater - Administration Assistant

Helena Heveran – Therapist

Marek Saferna – Residential Medical Officer

Margaret Crush retires

Long-serving therapist, Margaret Crush retired in March 2011 after 25 years of service

Margaret Crush (pictured left) was first a nursing assistant at Clouds House, Wiltshire, when Peter and Margaret Ann McCann lived in England. In 1988, she made the move north to Castle Craig and continued as a nursing assistant, living on the hospital complex in House 2. Her later career saw her move on to becoming a trainee therapist and she later worked as a therapist for many years.

Many generations of patients - especially those who attended the ECU - will remember Margaret fondly. Dr. McCann described her as "an excellent therapist for the female patients in treatment," adding that "her loyalty and dedication to Castle Criag and the care of patients is something that Peter and I thank her for. She has had a lasting impact on many people's lives - both patients and staff."

Staff Profile: Mark James Lafferty

Job: Trainee Therapist > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > From: Now lives in South Lanarkshire

How did you come to work at Castle Craig?

I have been in recovery from alcoholism for six years. I first attended AA meetings in Jan 2005 and continue to attend to this present day.

I immediately embarked upon the twelve step programme of recovery and the benefits yielded were immeasurable both to my health, wellbeing and family.

I had of course heard of Castle Craig at this point and had met many wonderful friends who had came through the treatment process here at the hospital.

One such friend invited me to the reunion with her in 2005. I was immediately impressed with the calmness and serene presence embodied in Castle Craig.

I met many patients and recall hearing Dr. McCann address the crowd in the Marquee. I was touched by the excitement and energy in the air. For a moment I considered what it would be like to be here as a patient and then the possibility of working here occurred to me, although it seemed so far off as I was five months sober.

I continued in my recovery and embarked upon carrying the message of recovery and I helped other alcoholics through the programme of recovery. I have been doing that for the past five years in AA. However the success rate for people coming into AA at that time was very low. It was estimated that only five percent of people coming in manage to get sober and maintain it. I believed more could be done to help chemically dependent people recover. I researched what was happening at Castle Craig and I discovered that the success rates for patients was close to sixty percent. It struck me that Castle Craig was at the forefront of recovery in Scotland and that patients leaving here had a far higher chance of succeeding in life long abstinence and recovery. Impressed with this I made enquiries as to how I could become part of the team at Castle Craig. I applied for the trainee position and was interview by Glynis Read and Gordon Hogg. It took a relatively short time for me to be offered a place on the training to become a therapist. I joined the staff team in September 2010.

How has your experience been so far?

My initial perceptions of Castle Craig as being at the forefront of recovery in Scotland have proved to be true. The staff team are varied they have a rich cultural background ranging from as far away as The USA to Malta,and of course the home-grown team bringing with them there own unique experience and insight to recovery. I quickly fitted in and was welcomed by all staff. I have been mentored by Audrey Grant Tracey Williams and Craig Logan. I have learned so much from them and each have there own individual styles and approach to the Minnesota Model used here. My supervisor and trainer Glynis Read has been a rock of support and encouragement throughout my training. Gordon Hogg and Tom Bruce have also been very supportive and insightful as my line managers. All of the staff team have contributed to my learning including therapist's past and the new additions. Mark abrami has been of considerable support too. The medical team of doctors and nurses have been very supportive too.The admin staff are all supportive and friendly. The catering is also excellent including the staff. I have benefited from taking part in the HBOTT trials another innovation that Castle Craig is at the forefront of. My concentration and overall mood have improved dramatically since my twenty sessions in the tank. Then of course there are the patients the reason I am here. It has been a joy to work with individual patients and helping them in their process of recovery. It has proved to be rewarding and challenging there are many ups and downs in the day of a patient. I am grateful that I can play my small part in that. I hope to continue my learning and became a full time employee at the end of my training in September

Member of any professional bodies or societies:

Awaiting confirmation of COSCA membership.

What are your non-work interests?

I play guitar, read classic novels such as Cervantes, Don Quixote and Dante's Inferno. I also like watching world cinema my favourite film is Cinema Paradiso. I enjoy playstation games too my favourite being FIFA football. I also enjoy reading for education.

Other background info e.g. professional background / travel experiences:

I originally come from a background of childcare and youth work, having worked in Castlemilk as a childcare worker in the early 90s and also as a Youth worker for four years. My wife and I in the past six years of my recovery have visited Italy on a few occasions, visiting the Uffizzi museum viewing The birth of Venus ( Botticelli) The Boboli Gardens in Florence and also tread the medieval streets Dante once did. We have visited The Gambia twice where we took part in local celebrations. We have been once to Paris where we stayed in the Latin quarter next to The Sorbonne University and visited The louvre and also Pere Lachaise cemetery where the famous Irish novelist Oscar Wilde is buried. In recovery I have looked to expand upon my knowledge and hope to continue to do so.

Anything else?

One more piece of important information about me is that my wife is due to give birth in six weeks time. It will be our first child and we're told its a girl so we are full of joy and anticipation!