GETTING STRATEGIC
12 |
drinkanddrugsnews
| 7 February 2011
Policy|
Drug strategy
www.drinkanddrugsnews.com
he new drug strategy was a ‘very impressive piece of work’ that
balanced radicalism and consolidation healthily, NTA chief
executive Paul Hayes told the meeting. What it didn’t take on,
however, were ‘the difficult questions – and those are the
numbers’, said Kathy Gyngell of the Centre for Policy Studies.
If the strategy was serious about a transition to recovery then
the number of clients was an incompatibility that needed to be
addressed, she said. ‘There’s no infrastructure for recovery there, and that
expertise isn’t part of the NTA’s treatment economy – there’s no fundamental
structure for carrying out the intention of the strategy.’ The system was ‘too big’,
acknowledged Paul Hayes. ‘If we’re going to deliver recovery, we can’t deliver
recovery to 200,000 people.’
Setting out to manage that number of people’s lives was a ‘fool’s errand’, said
Gyngell, with harm reduction services needing ‘inherent reform’ as much as
recovery services needed development. ‘The culture and the ethos has got to
change. Recovery is far more common and far more possible than is assumed by
people who work in drug services.’ Outgoing chair of Narcotics Anonymous, Mike
Weinstein, added that the harm reduction system gave a covert message that
recovery ‘isn’t really a hope’.
The move to recovery was the right one, but the providers who delivered it were
small and excluded, said chair of the All Party Parliamentary Group on Drug
Misuse, Lord Mancroft. ‘The only way they will expand is through bankable
contracts. The frightening thing is when ministers start talking about new and
innovative methods of treatment. We don’t need new and innovative methods –
we know what works, and we need to bring those people who haven’t been in the
mainstream into the mainstream.’
‘Over the years it’s become hard to move people on,’ added Action on
Addiction chief executive, Nick Barton. ‘You hear “people aren’t coming forward
for recovery” – why would they if they didn’t know it was available? Changing the
mindset and practices is going to take time.’ Organisations would need to think
differently about how they navigated people through the system and used
resources, said Phoenix Futures chief executive Karen Biggs. ‘It’s going to need a
The NTA recently invited a range of key players to a round table discussion on
the implications of the new treatment landscape. DDN reports