Professional social counseling of the Addiction Clinic at the General University Hospital in Prague is provided to people who are at risk of substance (alcohol, tobacco, methamphetamine, etc.) and non-substance addiction (pathological gambling, computer games, social networks, etc.), their families and loved ones.

The service allows these people to obtain information about possible solutions and understand their situation so that they can function better in everyday life, in their family, surroundings and work.

Form of service It is outpatient, distance, provided free of charge with nationwide coverage.

Service objective

The aim of the service is for clients to:

• had access to all up-to-date information necessary to resolve their situation related to addictive behavior and were able to orient themselves in the health and social services provided,
• have information available about options for resolving their situation in a broader context (state social support benefits, registration at the employment office, etc.),
• have information about tools and techniques that can help them manage addictive behavior (traffic light, player register, etc.),
• they were able to gain an overall understanding of their situation and understand the consequences and influences that addiction has on their lives, family, surroundings and the community in which they live, as well as on their future.

Target group

The target group of the service is people aged 19 to 80 who are at risk of substance (alcohol, cocaine, HHC, Kratom, THC, methamphetamine, etc.) and non-substance addiction (pathological gambling, computer games, social networks, etc.), their families and loved ones.

This may be:

• people who have not yet been in contact with an addiction service and need to find their way around addiction services,
• people at risk of substance abuse who are attempting to abstain from or reduce their substance use and are seeking support to maintain this change,
• people who have completed some form of treatment (outpatient treatment, detox, inpatient treatment) and need support to resolve the difficulties they are encountering (return to work, resolving benefits such as sickness benefits, unemployment benefits, material hardship),
• people who have returned to using addictive substances after a period of abstinence, which results in impaired functioning in everyday life,
• people who are close to these persons.

Principles

We follow these principles in our service:

• We respect the client's choice and their past and current decisions.
• We support informed choices based on an understanding of the context and consequences.
• The client is responsible for resolving the situation.
• We take into account the individual needs of the client.
• We focus on helping people function in their lives in a way that at least mitigates the impacts that arise as a result of addictive behavior.
• When working with clients, we base our work on the most current knowledge in the field of addiction.
• Use of the services is voluntary.

Counseling center capacity

The capacity is based on the amount of time spent by individual social workers. It is set at 0.1 time spent for every two social workers. The capacity is set at one client per social worker.

Ordering of interested parties

The client can order:

• Personally: Every Thursday except holidays from 8:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.

In the premises of the Clinic of Addiction Medicine – Apolinářská 4, Prague 2

Opening hours: 8:00 – 12:00

• By phone: 224 968 208 (due to ongoing consultations, the answering machine is on, if you leave a message and phone number, we will call you)
• By email: socialnisluzba@vfn.cz

 Personnel management

Lenka Kohutičová – head of service, social worker

Martina Kotorová – social worker

The professional social counseling service can be a one-time service or, if necessary, repeated, for a maximum of 5 meetings. If the client is unable to attend a meeting, we require an apology (by phone, email).

A social worker has 60-90 minutes of time allocated to each client.

An oral agreement on the provision of services is always concluded with the interested party at the beginning.

A key part of the process is individual planning. As part of working with the client on individual planning, we focus on the following:

• description of the current situation,
• the goals he wants to achieve,
• steps that will lead to achieving the goals,
• timetable,
• evaluation of goals – meeting schedule,
• setting further goals – revision.

Reasons for termination of social service

1. On the client side:

• the agreed objectives were met,
• Expression of interest in terminating cooperation before achieving the set goal,
• death of a client,
• The client may stop using it immediately, without giving a reason.

2. Reasons for termination on the service side:

• the agreed objectives were met, 

• for gross or repeated aggressive displays,
• repeated demonstrable non-cooperation,
• termination (discontinuance) of services (e.g. operational, financial, professional reasons),
• did not show up for an appointment without an apology,
• aggressive behavior towards the service or employees, in this case it is not possible to use the service for 3 months after termination, unless the service decides otherwise,
• the client is not a target group, the client is given contacts for other organizations.

Dissatisfaction with the service can be expressed via

• anonymous complaints to the appropriate box located in the hallway (the box is picked up every week during operating hours), the response is posted on the notice board located in the hallway,
• direct contact with the head of the workplace concerned by the dissatisfaction
• Hospital Ombudsman,

• Complaints pursuant to Act No. 372/2011 Coll., on Health Services, as amended (hereinafter referred to as “Complaint”).
• a complaint against the procedure of the VFN in the provision of health and social services or against activities related to health services, can be submitted to the General University Hospital: in writing to the address General University Hospital in Prague, U Nemocnice 499/2, 128 08 Prague 2,

• by personally delivering the complaint to the VFN registry office, U Nemocnice 499/2, Prague 2, headquarters building A5, 4th floor,
• The provider informs the complainant about the possibility of contacting the relevant independent body in case of dissatisfaction with the handling of the complaint with the subject of an investigation into the procedure for handling the complaint (MHMP, MPSV, Public Defender of Rights, Helsinki Committee).

We keep a list of complaints, where we record the complaint, notification of the investigation of the complaint with the corrective action. 

Basic principles of personal data processing

We always access your personal data in accordance with currently applicable legislation.

Our activity is the provision of social services. To perform this activity, we need to know your personal data and data about your social and health situation. Without this data, it is not possible to provide a social service at a sufficient level. No unauthorized person will gain access to your data. All our employees are bound by confidentiality directly by law. We consider trust and data security to be one of the basic priorities within our activities.

• We always process your personal data correctly, in accordance with the law and in a manner that is sufficiently obvious, clear and distinct.
• We always process your personal data only to the extent necessary and in a manner that is consistent with the purpose for which we process your data.
• We ensure that the personal data we process about you is always accurate and updated as necessary. Personal data that is inaccurate will be deleted or corrected.
• We process your personal data only for the period strictly necessary. After the termination of the service, personal data is stored for 10 years in accordance with legal regulations.
• We properly secure your personal data against leakage, unauthorized processing, accidental loss and damage. For this purpose, we have taken appropriate technical measures, which consist in particular in strictly setting the access of individual persons to your data, encryption and other technical and physical security measures.

Client rights – clients have the following rights in relation to their personal data:

• Right of access: The client has the right to request access to their personal data that is being processed and to obtain a copy of this data.
• Right to rectification: The client may request the correction of inaccurate or incomplete data.
• Right to erasure ("right to be forgotten"): If personal data is no longer needed for the purposes for which it was collected, the client has the right to have it erased.
• Right to restriction of processing: The client may request restriction of processing in certain cases, e.g. if they disagree with the accuracy of the data.
• Right to object: The client has the right to object to the processing of his personal data.
• Right to data portability: The client may request the transfer of their data to another administrator.

In all matters related to the processing of your personal data, whether it is a question, exercising a right, filing a complaint or anything else, you can contact our Data Protection Officer: Ing. Šárka Nováková, MBA., e-mail: sarka.novakova@vfn.cz .