For most, finding the right help for alcohol or drug issues in Abergele, is confusing and difficult. It's easy to end up paying too much for a treatment clinic that underdelivers.
We've compiled this need-to-know guide, including questions to ask each clinic *before* you pay - including a printable cheatsheet.
Step 1 - What Do You Want From Rehab?
There are a wealth of treatment options available for those fresh to the journey of recovery. But considering first, what your treatment needs truly are, can help you pay for rehab just once, and not twice.
Detox Only, Or A Complete Recovery Programme?
A normal stay for alcohol or drug treatment would include the three stages of detoxification, rehabilitation, and aftercare planning. But there's no point in spending more than you have to.
- Have you been detoxed before?
Opting for the full package will provide more support, but think about if it's necessary.
Treatment Near Abergele
Amongst the concerns we hear each day, the location of the clinic is one of the most common. But sometimes, you can be too close to home.
Looking farther afield can potentially mean finding a higher standard of care, for less cost.
Clinics have to pass muster with regulators re the basics of detox and rehab, but how supportive is their team? What is the staff:client numbers ratio? What happens if you struggle in future? Researching the most appropriate option for you personally, can yield big long term results in your sobriety, later.
See all the locations Abbeycare serve, here.
Detox Requirements
The quality of support you receive from the clinic team, can make or break recovery results.
If you've had detoxes in the past, or complications like liver or other issues, you'll want to be extra careful here.
Specific detoxes that may need more specialist intervention include high dose methadone transfers, multi-substance detoxes, or cases with previous hospital admission for addiction.
Ask if the clinic you're dealing with has specialist professionals who've delivered your detox in the past, and with what results.
KEY QUESTIONS
- How long should detox take, for me?
- Do you have specialist addiction medics prescribing detox?
- If there are unexpected issues during my detox, what happens?
Step 2 - Understand How Rehab Works
What is the typical admission process?
Private rehab clinics are centres where all the normal addiction treatment options like detox, therapy, and relapse prevention, are provided in a private setting, all under one roof, with specialists in the field. With your own room, and seclusion away from the addiction triggers in normal life, you have a chance to truly recover.
Expect to complete a pre-admissions screening process over the phone - this is quite normal.
Mapping Out Needs And Treatment Goals
Whilst all clinics operate a group environment generally, most should look to help you keep track of your progress, and monitor treatment goals reached.
In the best clinics, where personal attention is high, you'll work with an assigned case manager, throughout your stay, who should help you draw up a care plan, in this way.
Be sure to take an active part in this, to avoid having standardised goals laid out, that don't match your preferences or personal situation. Any input at this stage will likely pay dividends later.
KEY QUESTIONS
- Is the care planning the same for every client, or is it personalised to me?
- How do I make sure I stay on track during treatment?
- What input do I have in planning my care?
- Am I passed from one staff member to another, as shifts change?
What Actually Happens Inside A Clinic?
What Is Day To Day Life Like, In Treatment?
The structure of each day will vary of course, from one provider to the next.
In treatment, you should receive some form of agenda for each day of the week. This schedule will be your guide for day to day life in the clinic, as you move through the stages of treatment in your care plan.
The time it takes to feel better at the initial stages of treatment is personal to each individual. Some will be ready to start therapeutic work after just a few days. Sometimes, detox will last much longer. This level of variance between individuals is very normal.
Call the clinic's admissions team to arrange to look around the inside of the centre before completing any paperwork. This can give you a real feel for how the day to day looks and feels.
KEY QUESTIONS
- How can I see what's inside the clinic, online?
- Give me an idea of how each day is structured, whilst in treatment?
- Is it possible to arrange a pre-admission visit, to look around? Is there any charge attached?
- When would I be expected to move from detox into therapy in the clinic?
Rehab & Covid-19
Rehab is almost always a group exercise, even at higher end clinics.
Those in long term recovery achieved it, only by accepting help from others, and helping them, in return.
But doing so safely, in the age of Covid-19, means ensuring the clinic you choose has provisions in place to guard against risk of infection.
Step 3 - Rehab On A Budget
Decide firstly, are you going down the public or private route?
Third sector organisations providing full stack care (detox, therapy, aftercare) under one roof are few and far between, but worth investigating in your area.
As you can imagine, the cheapest provider is not always the best.
Working with minimalist care, in a clinic with spartan conditions is not conducive to personal breakthroughs. Instead, look for alternative providers with smaller programmes, headcount, and overheads, to strike the right balance.
Get a rough indication of costs at this stage by calling a few clinics direct and make it clear your call is just an initial enquiry, to avoid over-committing to one provider too early.
Other Ways To Get Help
AA/NA/GA Meetings
Most cities and towns across the world play host to mutual aid style meetings locally, like the 12 step driven groups of Alcoholics Anonymous and Narcotics Anonymous.
However, specialist medical help will be required to kick start the journey with detox, which cannot be obtained via such community groups.
AA, NA, and the big book groups have millions of followers and attendees, and have been very successful over the years. But initially, it's important to get professional help to detox safely, and comfortably.
Community Healthcare Options
Immediate help to detox from NHS services is usually not possible. It's more common to receive a referral to a local Drug/Alcohol support team, and begin weekly meetings with a keyworker.
Seeing Slough's recovery progress.
Eligibility for short term detox is slim, and is usually restricted to only a handful of cases.
Aggregating funds together, between friends and family, can be a good approach to securing private treatment instead, where the individual can't finance it themselves.
Step 4 - Find Objective Reviews
Assessing a provider's standard of care is important - but can be tricky for the layman.
In these situations we need an independent and impartial regulator's opinion - in this case, The Care Quality Commission (CQC) for England and Wales, and The Care Inspectorate, for Scotland.
These two regulators ensure clinics are up to scratch, and send written reports to clinics with their findings, on how they can improve their service, and potential penalties, if they don't comply.
Service providers receive a full report on the watchdog's findings.
Clinic Inspections - What You Need to Know
When looking for CQC or Care Inspectorate reports, always look for those stating the visit was "Unannounced" instead of "Announced" - this means the provider was not aware the inspection was occurring, and hence is most likely to provide most insight into genuine standards of care.
Step 5 - Choose A Clinic
Now is the time to come to a decision about where you're completing treatment.
When you call the admissions team for the clinic you’ve chosen, expect to go through an initial telephone assessment, and pay a deposit towards treatment, as explained above.
You can normally complete the necessary steps over the phone in 20 minutes or less, and then make an initial deposit towards treatment, that's used to hold the room in your name, until you arrive at the clinic.
Any additional financial issues, such as paying via insurance policy, would normally also be sorted out at this stage.
Step 6 - Paying For Rehab
Most clinics will expect payment of a deposit, toward the full balance of treatment, prior to admitting.
Expect to pay anywhere from £1,800 to £4,000 to book a place in a treatment provider's clinic.
A few offer payment plans to help spread the cost of rehab, although nowadays this is less common.
Be sure to get a written confirmation of receipt for your deposit, and confirm with the provider any admin fees due, in the event of admission delays, or even cancellation, due to unforeseen circumstances.
Balance To Pay
The balance to pay for treatment, if not paying via insurance or a third party, is usually due when you arrive to admit to the clinic.
Interest on late payment for a significant sum like this can be significant, so it's worth getting this done on time.
Step 7 - Get Started
Did you get a booking confirmation, containing the practical details, like date and time you're due to arrive for treatment? If not, request one now.
Bring along a few supplies with you, like those below. You should be able to arrange for anything else, after arrival.
Make sure to check paperwork for any restrictions on device usage (not all clinics allow this), internet access, and visits from family.
Treatment centres must co-ordinate their clinical and medical teams availability for your arrival - so being on time matters. Try to arrange your transport to the clinic, ahead of time, to make sure things run smoothly.
From this point on, your recovery journey has begun!
Easy Rehab Q&A Cheatsheet
Thanks so much for reading the ultimate guide on finding rehab treatment in Abergele.
Abbeycare have provided this guide free of charge, to help you make the right decision when considering addiction rehab treatment options.
Help for addiction is available at Abbeycare's UK clinics.
We've helped hundreds (thousands probably) move beyond addiction, and start a new life.
In our 15 years, we've worked with even the most complex detoxes, needs, and issues.
Even if you need transport arranged to get here, we can probably help with that too.
How did we do with inspections from regulators? Check our reports, available on our clinic pages, here: Abbeycare Scotland, and Abbeycare Gloucester.
Our admissions team are ready to help.
Our medical team are ready to help you detox, comfortably.
The Abbeycare therapy team are specialists in helping you identify and work through the underlying triggers behind addiction.
Our clinic team are ready to help you make the progress you need.
The only thing left is - are you ready?
We'll help get things moving. Ring us direct, on 01603 513 091.
