Middlesbrough Specialist Drug and Alcohol Services Review
Download (PDF 524.15 KB)Summary of report content
As part of Middlesbrough Councils review activity of the Specialist Drug and Alcohol prescribing services, they approached Healthwatch Middlesbrough to carry out service user engagement to inform this process. They heard from 98 people via a survey.
Two in five didn't know who co-ordinates their care. As a result, they don’t reach out for as much support as they need as they don’t know who to contact.
Many respondents told Healthwatch that to ensure they stay focused and on track towards their sobriety, they need activities to fill their day and keep them busy in order to distract them from their cravings.
Some of the clients identified that mental health support was also needed alongside the support they receive for their addictions that is not always easy to access whilst undergoing treatment. This meant that their symptoms were being addressed but not necessarily the cause and felt like a ‘revolving door’. Improving access to dual diagnosis services for clients with combined mental health and addiction problems has been raised as an issue with service providers in the past and this still appears to be a problem area.
Respondents felt that during times they are under the influence of drug and/or alcohol they hit rock bottom and identified a small window of opportunity to realise they need help when this moment occurs.
Some have witnessed other clients abusing the heroine substitute injection currently offered. They said that those who are offered this don’t always use it in the manner it should be and have it to ‘top up’ if they can’t ‘score’ elsewhere.
The report contains five recommendations and a response from the council.