Things you need to know – Alcohol Home Detox – Full Details
There are following guide lines for a drug Home Detox. The individual who is looking to have an drug Home Detox will need to be assessed to make sure they are:
1/ Fit and healthy enough, following a medical assessment and examination to have a drug home detox
2/ The patient will need to have 24 hour supervision from an appropriate adult during their treatment. This can be a partner or live in friend, mum or dad etc. (This must be strictly adhered to at all times)
5 steps to a drug detox
There are five steps to the initial assessment, and the assessment process is on-going during the drug detox treatment. The five steps are as follows:
1/ The first step will be a telephone assessment taken with the patient, and with his or her home supervisor. Once this is achieved, and we are happy the home detox can go ahead, we will arrange a home appointment with the patient and the home supervisor. This appointment will be made at the end of the assessment.
2/ The next step is the home appointment. This will take place with the patient and the home supervisor. This will be a face to face meeting. During this assessment a psychiatric, medical and social history examination will be carried out. We will also discuss the patients alcohol misuse history. This will include past and present history. We will use various assessments methods including SADQ,CIWA-R etc
3/ The third step will be an examined of the patient, and baseline observations will be taken.
4/ The supervisor will need to have access to a blood pressure machine and a pulse monitor. This will be used during treatment.
5/ The supervisor will be given the patients prescription which will be issued at this point. The prescription will NEVER be given to the patient under any circumstances.
The supervisor
At NO point will the supervisor be left in the dark. The supervisor will be given a 24 hour emergency phone number to call.
The supervisors job during treatment will be to agree to supervise ALL the patients medication under the direction of the prescriber. The supervisor be given a list of times to call the provider. These will be at medication times. This will be a minimum of 4 times a day. During these 4 phone calls the supervisor and the patient will discuss with the prescriber any symptoms the patient may be having, and the severity of the symptoms. The supervisor will also be asked during the 4 phone calls, to take the patients blood pressure, pulse rate and respiration rate. This information will be passed on to the prescriber. The prescriber will also ask the supervisor more questions to ascertain any changes in the amount of medication to be administered to the patient on each occasion. The medication schedule will remain the responsibility of the prescriber at all times, and NOT the supervisor. A regime of symptomatic medication administration will be used to control the patients withdrawal severity. This will help make the patients drug detox as comfortable as possible.
The patient will need to give consent and sign a consent form for drug home detox treatment. The prescriber will also give the agreed supervisor a supervisors form which will also need signing and consent given. These forms will then be given back to the prescriber.
Medication
The prescriber will provide medication to cover all symptoms of drug dependency. This is to make the drug home detox as comfortable as possible. The prescriber will also prescribe medication for the following, were necessary:
1/ Nausea
2/ Gastro-intestinal disturbance
3/ insomnia
4/ Anxiety
The above medication will be prescribed as necessary.
Am I guaranteed to have an drug home detox?
The final decision as to the suitability of the patient to undertake a drug home detox, will be the discussion of the prescriber. Exclusion for a home drug detox can be given for the following:
1/ Medical condition
2/ Psychiatric reasons
3/ Social reasons
Our drug home detox programs can be carried out anywhere in the UK. After you have called our team, your drug home detox normally starts within 2 to 3 days, or can be sooner on request. If you would like any help or advice, or to book a drug home detox, call our team on tel: 0845 3881 543 or mobiles call 07811 606 606