Substance users have the right to the same quality of care as everyone else
23 March 2008
Substance users have the right to the same quality of care as everyone else, a new report by the Scottish Advisory Committee on Drug Misuse (SACDM) is expected to recommend next week.The report will be published on the same day that former Health Minister Susan Deacon chairs a conference in Glasgow looking at how the concept of "recovery" might be applied to the field of drug addiction.
Some of the main findings of the SACDM Sub-Group's Essential Care Report are:
-There is a need for a major change in the philosophy of care for people with problem substance use in Scotland
-Substance users are people with aspirations
-Policy makers, commissioners and services need to consider how they can help them recover
-Substance users have the right to the same quality of care as the rest of us
A full copy of the Essential Care Report will be available on the Scottish Government's website on March 26.
The majority of the report is concerned with the Essential Care that is needed to address problems in other areas of drug service users' lives; their general health, their mental health and their social skills and relationships. It lists all the areas which may need attention, together with evidence of their benefits. This Essential Care has sometimes been called ‘wraparound' - a label which has given rise to the idea that further support on top of an intervention to tackle the physical addiction is an ‘optional extra'. It is not.
But the main conclusion is something more visionary. The report states that there needs to be a major change in the philosophy of care for problem substance use in Scotland - focused on the recovery of each individual and putting service users' aspirations at the centre of care.
for Minister for Community Safety Fergus Ewing said:
"We will publish a new drugs strategy for Scotland before summer and its main focus will be recovery. It is essential that people experiencing drug problems have access to a range of wider services including employment, housing, health that help them to move-on and rebuild their lives.
"The Strategy will also have a renewed programme of action on prevention, early intervention and support for young people and families involving all arms of the Scottish Government and public services.
"I believe we need to get better at encouraging each service user's separate vision of recovery by reducing practical barriers to services, while giving people hope by acknowledging that recovery is achievable.
"We need to give the many talented and committed people who work to tackle drugs problems, and the millions we invest, a clearer focus and sense of common purpose than we have had in the past. Everything I hear from the many people I have spoken to in recent months leads me to believe that we can build a consensus around ‘recovery' as that purpose.
"Harm reduction is often turned into a contentious issue as if there were a contradiction between treatment and prevention on one hand, and reducing the adverse health and social consequences of drug use on the other. They should actually be complementary.
"Our new national strategy will be based on evidence and consensus. It will be wide-ranging: looking at ways forward on treatment, prevention, enforcement and criminal justice interventions. But the purpose will be clearer - more individuals recovering their health, their sense of self-worth, their family responsibilities, and through training and work their places in society and the economy."
NOTES FOR NEWS EDITORS
1. The Scottish Government is organising this conference to provide an opportunity for discussion and debate about what recovery means for people with problem drug use in Scotland, to develop a shared understanding about how to promote and support recovery and discuss the implications of building up a Recovery Movement.
2. This approach has been used successfully in the mental health field for people with similarly complex needs and the conference will hear from Simon Bradstreet of the Scottish Recovery Network about what has been achieved. Turning Point Scotland, one of the biggest voluntary sector providers of drug services have been ‘Learning as an Organisation' to put recovery at the forefront of their care, and will share their experience with delegates.
3. Above all, there will be input from people with personal experience of drug problems who are driving along their own recovery and who are showing it can be done.
4. The report lists seven principles which should underpin service delivery:
"The delivery of comprehensive services that meet the range of needs experienced by problem substance users must be underpinned by the following principles.
1. People with substance use problems, in common with society, have aspirations to have healthy and happy families and to experience fulfilling lives. Disadvantage, poverty and social exclusion are closely aligned with problem substance use. Services to improve health and well-being must reflect this.
2. Services must acknowledge the stigma associated with substance use. It is their duty to challenge it.
3. Recovery must become the focus of the care available for problem substance use rather than an ideology which advocates any particular type of treatment. Recovery encompasses harm reduction and abstinence.
4. All services and commissioning partners must put service users at the heart of their activities. Person-centred approaches must underpin all services.
5. All services provided to people with an alcohol or drug problem should be accessible to individuals regardless of their race, religion, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, disability or age. Local governance and accountability processes must ensure this national drive is translated into local, effective service design and delivery.
6. Assessment must address the totality of peoples' lives. Recovery plans must therefore address a full range of social issues including housing, education and working aspirations, legal difficulties and health improvement. There should be regular formal review of progress.
7. All people with problem substance use must have access to the same services as everyone else - this includes the right to be registered with a GP and to access primary health and social care services. Services must take cognisance of the full range of substance users' needs. "
For further information and a copy of case studies please contact: Danny Chalmers, 0131 244 2642 or the Duty Press Officer over the Easter Weekend via 0131 446 8400.