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A drug and alcohol detoxification and rehabilitation service has been placed under special measures after failing to improve sufficiently after inspections.

We Can Recover in Liverpool had its licence suspended following safety concerns at an inspection in November, the Care Quality Commission (CQC) said.

Follow-up inspections in January and February found some improvement but it remains "inadequate" and "more work needs to be done", the CQC said.

The company has been asked to comment.

We Can Recover CIC is a private company located on Belmont Drive in Liverpool. It provides inpatient care and detoxification for up to 24 people.

The November inspection found it did not have enough experienced nursing and medical staff to deliver "high quality, safe care" and its registration was suspended.

Three out of four nurses, including the newly appointed clinical lead, had no previous experience of working with substance misuse patients, the report said.

Arrangements to cover gaps in staffing levels and a process for staff to escalate concerns out of hours were also criticised.

At the January inspection, improvements had not been made and the suspension was extended.

The CQC carried out a further inspection in February, and its suspension was extended for a third time before being lifted on 17 March.

The service remains in special measures and inspectors are considering whether further enforcement action needs to be taken to keep people safe, the CQC said.

Karen Knapton, The CQC's deputy director of operations in the North of England, said: "When we inspected We Can Recover CIC, we found leaders didn't have the experience to run the service safely and hadn't actioned the concerns we identified at the November inspection, which led to the service being suspended.

"Leaders still weren't supporting staff to follow good practice with respect to safeguarding, or even have a policy for staff to follow. Staff didn't have appropriate training on how to recognise and report abuse despite us telling leaders they needed to do this at the previous inspection.

"It was also concerning that managers didn't complete all appropriate employment checks for new staff which could put people at risk of harm.

"We expect to see improvements as people deserve a much higher and safer standard of care."

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