The boss of a Liverpool drug and alcohol rehabilitation service has been disqualified from being a director of a company for three years and the company she ran hit with fines of more than £60,000.
The company which runs the We Do Recover CIC facility, based in Kremlin Drive, Liverpool was fined a total of £45,000 at Liverpool Magistrates Court today (Wednesday) and ordered to pay £15,000 costs after being found to be operating unlawfully without Care Quality Commission (CQC) registration.
The director of the service, Fenella Price was given a community order for 12 months to complete 200 hours unpaid work within this timeframe and ordered to pay £500 costs and £90 victim surcharge. Price was also disqualified from being a director of a company for three years, effective from June 14 this year.
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The CQC brought the prosecution after receiving concerns about the treatment being provided to people at We Do Recover. The health watchdog investigated and found the service was not registered even though it had been providing regulated activity for nine months from September 2020.
A trial in February heard that Price, the director of the company, put forward evidence that she was unaware her company was not able to offer regulated activities such as detoxing, without being registered with the CQC. Lawyers on behalf of the watchdog argued she did in fact know the legal requirements involved.
After the five day trial Price was found guilty of operating a drug rehabilitation service illegally. Her sentencing took place today, May 24. While Price pleaded not guilty to the offence, leading to the trial, We Do Recover pleaded guilty at the first opportunity.
Ros Sanderson, CQC’s deputy director of national enforcement, said: “It’s unacceptable that We Do Recover CIC and Fenella Price risked people’s safety by running this service without the benefit of CQC registration. That’s why I welcomed the court’s decision in February to find them guilty.
“The registration process vets services before they care for people to ensure they can meet the standards people should be able to expect.
“Unregistered services operate without oversight, putting people at risk of harm. When we find providers operating unlawfully, we do not hesitate to act to protect people, as we did in this case.”
In April, the ECHO revealed that Price was also the director of a separate addiction service that had been placed in special measures. We Can Recover, based in Belmont Drive, Anfield, had its licence to operate suspended last year amid safety concerns from the CQC. While some improvements were found at an inspection earlier this year the facility continues to be rated as inadequate.
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