Ripon House Approved Premises for Women

Shared Care Scheme

Ripon House employs a “ Shared Care ” approach in working with residents to address substance misuse problems. Our approach brings together a specialist Addiction Therapist who works closely with the hostel GP. The Addiction Therapist visits the hostel on a weekly basis and assesses all residents who currently struggle with, or have had alcohol or drug problems in the past. Following the assessment, recommendations are made to the hostel GP regarding a course of treatment or prescribing regime. The frequency of contact a resident has with the Addiction Therapist depends upon the needs of the resident and appropriate medical requirements regarding prescribing. Residents at Ripon House are drug tested on a random basis or on any other timescale as set by the Addiction Therapist in discussion with the resident's link worker. By working jointly with the Addiction Therapist and the hostel GP in this way Ripon House works towards stabilising those residents who experienced chaotic drug use at the time of their admission to the hostel and we can quickly respond to any changes in a resident’s relapse prevention plan.