Agenda item

To review performance against the Council Plan 2015-2020 for the period 1 April

2016 – 30 June 2016.

Mrs Ruth Henshaw, Corporate Development Officer reported on key performance indicators (KPIs)   April-June 2016 in relation to three groups - opiate drugs users, non-opiate drug users and alcohol users - and the percentages (%) of these substance users successfully completing treatment.  She explained that for the drug users the KPIs included not re-presenting within six months. There had been steady progress with all three KPIs.

Mrs Henshaw referred to the 6 July 2016 meeting when the Committee had requested details of why there was significant difference in progress between the opiate and non-opiate users. Explanatory commentary had been added to the performance report.

Dr Rajpura referred to opiate users’ success rates which were below the national target and explained that the KPIs for all drug users focused on the clinical health stage but took no account of sustained recovery.  He suggested that as people did relapse without further support a better approach would be to focus on providing real recovery, i.e. recovery rates sustained for at least six months after clinical support.

Dr Rajpura went to explain that many opiate users faced deep-rooted complex conditions, and that although some users did successfully recover, the KPI had been easier to achieve previously with more manageable clients.

The Committee queried the life expectancy of drug users and Dr Rajpura explained that locally and nationally there had been an increase in deaths caused by drugs related use. Around 50% of opiate users did eventually recover. However, there were a high percentage of opiate drug users that never recovered and died usually quite young e.g. before they reached 30 years old. In recent years, the purity of drugs such as heroin had caused a number of early deaths. Around 50% of opiate users died due to the drugs. Older opiate users would also face other health issues and their problems were another reason in the national rise in deaths.

Councillor Maxine Callow enquired how long an opiate user might be prescribed methadone. Dr Rajpura stated that methadone prescriptions might run for two years or more. In reality, many opiate users would still be on methadone when they died. He added that the very low expectancy for drug users, i.e. 30-40 years old, meant a low local life expectancy rate overall of just over 75 years.

In response to a question on drug users with multiple problems Dr Rajpura referred to the integrated service approach which would support many users with complex problems. He added that alcohol treatment had proven challenging and the new integrated approach would use more effective specialist support for each of the alcohol and drug areas.

With regard to integration into society, Dr Rajpura explained that it was important to focus on ensuring that some opiate users did recover and were supported through a range of wider long-term initiatives, e.g. to aim for homes, skills and employment, reducing social isolation and friendship. He highlighted the Camerados Café which had been introduced into Blackpool Library and had proven highly successful in supporting people including not only coming off drugs but finding activities, jobs and even starting businesses.

In relation to awareness raising of the risks of drugs and alcohol, Dr Rajpura confirmed that there were public health campaigns particularly targeted at young people including supporting schools with health education and wider awareness information. There were particular recent projects such as Better Start supporting parents and young children and Head Start to support teenagers build resilience.

The Chairman referred to the five KPIs that were only reported upon annually and enquired whether in-year progress could be reported if there were issues, i.e. an assurance check that there would no significant end-of-year under-performance. Dr Rajpura confirmed that work in all areas was on-going with regular performance management.

The Chairman asked why some KPIs were only measured against the previous year, which might be starting from a low base, but had no specific targets. He also suggested that actual numbers for each KPI would be useful in providing better context. Dr Rajpura agreed that there could be percentage targets for each year with numbers added in.

The Committee agreed that the Health Key Performance Indicators should all have specific targets for monitoring progress and actual performance numbers alongside percentages.