Focus on Residential Treatment: Acer Unit

Acer’s inpatient detoxification and stabilisation service is for people who have a primary problem with:

• Opiate use, including methadone as well as heroin
• Stimulants such as crack cocaine
• Alcohol
• Polydrug use, relating to a combination of drugs and/or alcohol.

The service admits adults (18-65 years) who have difficulty controlling or eliminating their drug or alcohol use in the community.

Many of Acer’s clients are:

• Service users who have tried and failed community-based drug or alcohol treatment programmes
• Service users whose social circumstances make it difficult to complete community-based treatment programmes
• People who use a variety of different substances at the same time.
• Homeless people
• Pregnant women
• People with physical, mental health, and learning difficulties.

The service offers a therapeutic programme which gives structure to each day of admission. The programme involves group sessions to discuss and develop skills to help cope with dependency and avoid relapses. There are timetabled individual sessions to maintain progress, ensure relapse prevention plans are in place and focus on recovery.

The group and individual sessions draw from a range of psychological techniques based on models of harm reduction and relapse prevention.

The service also ensures a balanced programme with physical and leisure activities, as well as opportunities to attend Alcoholics Anonymous and Narcotics Anonymous groups.

AWP’s Acer unit offers high quality treatment to some of the most complex service users. It has gained an excellent rating from the Care Quality Commission.

Acer Unit is a 10-bed, regional resource and has a number of treatment episodes commissioned by Safer Bristol Partnership and Safer South Gloucestershire. Treatment for people from other areas is available to spot purchase.