The Woman Who Helps The Mega-Rich Get Clean

Vodka disguised in a bottle of mouthwash, hard drugs stashed in the toes of £600 shoes and boutique fitness addicts killing themselves to get lean… all in a day’s work for an at-home ‘sober nurse’. Cosmopolitan steps inside her world.

- Louisa Pritchard

I’m crouching on the floor surrounded by Jimmy Choo, Christian Louboutin and Prada heels – they’re all scattered across the thick carpet like confetti (I was instructed to remove my own shoes – a pair of plain white plimsolls – as soon as I stepped through the front door). Now upstairs, I root around the walk-in wardrobe, picking up shoes and discarding them one by one. The sound of a woman sobbing echoes up the stairs.

I reach deep inside a snakeskin Isabel Marant boot. I have to stretch my fingers so they can feel right into the toe, where I grab what I’ve been looking for: a tiny bag of pills, wrapped up tightly in clingfilm. I pull it out and pop it into my pocket. Then it’s into the bedroom, where I begin padding down the long ivory curtains, searching for more carefully hidden contraband.

It’s Monday morning and this is how I begin my week as a nurse for The Psanctum Practice, which offers addiction counselling in people’s own homes. We are contacted directly or have referrals from Sober Services, who offer everything from light support to 24/7 care. My job means that our clients – who range from former teen pop stars to socialites found in the back pages of celebrity magazines – no longer need to check into The Priory to dry out, and escape the risk of being papped entering a clinic.

For the past year I’ve been on hand, as the clinical services manager, to keep a watchful eye over them. I had been working in a GP surgery before this, but found myself getting so frustrated at the lack of mental health care provisions I could offer people. When I was head hunted for The Psanctum Practice, it appealed because it’s so hands-on – you’re in these people’s private homes, willing them to have hope, and to trust in someone or something again.