Issue - meetings

To present an update on the first year of the integrated Drug and Alcohol Treatment Service to support adults.

Ms Karon Brown, Head of Integrated Services, Delphi Medical Consultants Limited presented an update on the first year of the integrated Drug and Alcohol Treatment Service to support adults. Also in attendance were Ms Nina Carter, Commissioning Manager; Ms Judith Mills, Public Health Consultant; and Dr Arif Rajpura, Director of Public Health.

Ms Brown explained that the Service provider was Horizon (part of Delphi). She outlined the background to the current service.

The Care Quality Commission had been critical that all support was provided in one building. Horizon recognised that it was important for clients to see a clear pathway of treatment progress to enable them to see their lives were moving forward.

It was report that first-line support (including outreach services to hostels and other places) was provided at the Dixon Road building and focused on community detox models involving key workers supporting clients. Most clients then moved on to Winston House where specialist support was offered, e.g. with mental health workers. Clients were often struggling with alcohol, drug, mental health and other problems such as smoking. They were initially supported with the first condition that they presented but most did have emotional and mental health issues. Staff included a psychologist and family worker to recognise that people were part of families suffering pain and loss. GPs were involved with meetings too. Ms Mills added that people presented with complex conditions but the services were well embedded to support them.

Ms Brown added that death rates were high with particular risks associated following the period immediately after finishing detox so support needed to be wide, including managing drug withdrawal, peer networks, art groups. It was a challenge supporting people with serious addictions to fully recover. She referred to a YouTube link within the report which featured examples of success stories.

Members accepted that the first year involved transitional change but were concerned that the recovery rates at the end of January 2018 were well short of end-year targets (end March 2018). The number of people recovering from opiate use was at 104 with a target of 200, non-opiates at 44 (target 200) and alcohol recoveries at 226, with a target of 500. They queried if the targets would be met or if they were unrealistic and how many people were waiting for treatment.

Members also queried the percentage of people entering treatment against those successfully completing treatment and it was agreed that a written answer would be provided following the meeting.

Ms Nina Carter explained in-depth analysis had been undertaken and the figures did not show the complexities involved, e.g. people often had a primary substance which they had recovered from but used other secondary substances. People also used drugs and alcohol making recovery challenging.

Ms Brown added that the previous service had been clinically focused, i.e. if people were identified as ‘drug-free’ then that counted as a successful completion. However, people were now supported for much longer periods, e.g. over six months to ensure that they achieved sustained  ...  view the full minutes text for item 5