As well as the obvious direct benefits for service users, the initiative also improved relationships between the services involved. Access to services (both as part of the one stop shop and separate to this) improved for the sex workers.
Read MoreWhat unites the NHS SMPA is a belief that people deserve high quality services which can improve their lives. To achieve this, we are clear that services should be built on the following five principles.
Read MoreThere is currently a very prominent debate regarding the reduction in funding for substance misuse services and rightly so. The emphasis on ensuring we are competent and thoughtful guardians of funding, and that we properly benefit service users has never been more important.
Read MoreInclusion, South Staffordshire and Shropshire Health Care Foundation Trust has won the Patient Safety Award sponsored by GS1 at the 2016 HSJ Awards.
Read MoreFor the people who wish to free themselves from their opioid dependence, there are many new choices to help them achieve their goal. There are new drugs that have been approved for use that will help relieve withdrawal symptoms
Read MoreBritish abuse of prescription drugs some of the worst in Europe
Read MoreAs well as providing clean needles, a needle exchange scheme also offers the opportunity for users to learn about safe injecting practises, equipment disposal, access into treatment services and education on drug use in general. It is a chance for substance users who are not currently in treatment to engage with someone who can provide advice and information.
Read MoreThe NHS Substance Misuse Providers Alliance welcomes the publication by the Home Office of the Drug Strategy 2017.
Read MoreThe team have been working hard raising the profile of Naloxone and the importance of training the service user, loved ones, family members as well as professionals such as hostel workers
Read MoreIn Manchester today we see the culmination of a number of months work where the NHS Substance Misuse Provider Alliance (NHSSMPA) formally launches itself as a collective of NHS drug and treatment providers working together in an effort to share the expertise and innovation we have to the broader sector.
Read MoreFor the last three years drug related deaths in the UK have increased. They are now at the highest levels since records began in 1993, meaning more lives are cut short and denied the opportunity to realise a brighter future. Every effort has to be made by all stakeholders to do all they can to change this statistic, and this will involve action in all contexts in which drugs are used and among all drug users.
Read MoreI am sure you know the story of The Emperor’s New Clothes. Two weavers promise him a new suit that they say is invisible to those who are unfit for their positions, stupid, or incompetent. When he parades before his subjects in his new clothes, no one dares to say that they don’t see any suit of clothes on him for fear that this is how they will be seen. Arguably this is how the treatment field has been treating recovery.
Read MoreThe latest statistics from the Home Office Crime Survey for England and Wales 2015/16 suggest that among people aged 16-59, use of most drugs has been decreasing for several years, and is around the lowest since measurements began in 1996.
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