ELECTION SPECIAL
Niamh Eastwood, executive director,
Release
Release would like to see the next
government promote interventions
based on the evidence rather than
ideology, recognising the importance
of harm reduction. That’s not to say
that the availability of abstinence-
based options is not important, but
rather that we need a treatment
system that responds to the needs
and wishes of the individual, instead
of one based on a political doctrine.
Something we talk about a lot at
Release is how in many ways the
problems our clients face are not
strictly about drugs. As such we would
like to see the next government revoke
some of the worst aspects of welfare
reform, including the bedroom tax, the
restriction on social fund payments and
the housing allowance cap, all of which
have significantly and negatively
impacted on many of those we
represent. We would also challenge any
government that brings in treatment
conditionality for benefit claimants.
With the UK government spending
£1.5bn on law enforcement but only
£600m on drug treatment, we would
like to see the field unite around the
need to shift our drug policy from one
based on a criminal justice response to
one based on health, human rights
and harm reduction.
Lord Victor Adebowale, chief
executive, Turning Point
Whoever forms the next government,
and however it is formed, they will
need to recognise that drug and
alcohol treatment is changing. Services
today must innovate in order to get
better results from fewer resources
and to cope with emerging challenges,
such as legal highs and restrictions on
other social care provision. This makes
it imperative that services are able to
cater for other health needs that are
often co-morbidities with substance
misuse issues, such as sexual health
and smoking cessation. We must also
reach groups such as the over-55s and
those who misuse prescription
medications. Policymakers must not
fall into the trap of considering
substance misuse services as
somehow separate from the wider
public health agenda.
With nearly three-quarters of
substance misuse service users also
experiencing a mental health
condition, recent interest in mental
health has been welcome, but this is
only one of the many issues that can
affect those with complex needs.
Commissioners must make sure that
contracts and funding encourage
service providers to offer individuals
whole-person care.
Hannah Shead, chief executive, Trevi
House
I hope the next government will
commit to interventions that work
with the wider family. When we
approach recovery as a single issue, we
miss a trick. For every person receiving
help, there are countless loved ones
also in need of services.
It is sad to see the future of so many
people determined by cost, as opposed
to need. At Trevi House, the majority
of our residents state that they would
never have even considered entering
residential treatment if it had meant
separation from their children, yet cost
invariably seems to be a barrier for so
many others I speak to.
Funding is not all I would like to see.
Politicians, alongside the media, create
a narrative around substance misuse,
and have a key role in helping services
to challenge the prejudice and stigma
of dependency. I frequently hear
people discussing addiction in
moralistic tones; this is especially the
case when we talk about mothers who
are drug or alcohol users. I would invite
the new government to come into our
services – not with the press officer or
the media advisor, but to come in and
try to understand the work we do. I
would ask them to be brave enough to
declare their own previous drug use, or
their personal battles with alcohol; to
stop treating substance misusers as
‘them’ and not ‘us’.
Yasmin Batliwala, chair, WDP
The government’s priority should be to
ensure that adequate funding is
available for both drug and alcohol
services, and such funds should be
supervised to guarantee that they will
reach these important services. The
government must also focus on
prevention regimes that work.
Solutions can be sought without
reinventing the wheel on one hand, or
repeating past mistakes on the other.
In addition, it is essential to build
confidence in commissioners. The
quality of commissioners’ decision-
making directly affects the quality of
service provision, so it is vital that the
former is addressed in order to
safeguard the latter.
As a field, we should be campaigning
for the destigmatisation of drug use.
This is at the core of all the work we
do, and could mean the difference
between someone in trouble seeking
help or struggling in silence.
8 |
drinkanddrugsnews
| May 2015
‘Policymakers
must not fall into
the trap of
considering
substance misuse
services as
separate from the
wider public
health agenda.’
‘Focus on
prevention
regimes that
work, without
reinventing the
wheel.’
‘I would invite the
new government
to come into our
services and try
to understand the
work we do.’
‘The next
government
should promote
interventions
based on the
evidence rather
than ideology.’
