Health Secretary Sajid Javid visits addictions services
Health and Social Care Secretary, Sajid Javid and Professor Dame Carol Black visited Lorraine Hewitt House in Lambeth to launch the government’s 10-year Drugs Strategy.
Lorraine Hewitt House in Brixton is home to Lambeth Drugs and Alcohol Consortium led by South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust, working with We are With You (formerly Addaction), Humankind and Phoenix Futures.
The Drugs Strategy is backed by an investment of almost £780 million for treatment. It aims to improve the effectiveness of drug prevention for people experiencing substance misuse problems, improve treatment and help more people to recover from dependence.
The announcement follows a two-part review undertaken by Dame Carol Black which looked at the challenges around drug supply, demand and treatment alongside recovery and prevention giving consideration to adults and young people, and has shaped the strategy.
David Bradley, Chief Executive of South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust, said:
“We welcome today’s announcement and the investment which will provide much needed support for vital addictions services and ensure people in our community receive good quality, effective treatment which will help them to stay well.
“It is essential for vulnerable people with substance misuse problems in our communities to get the support they need to recover and help to turn their lives around.”
Dr Mike Kelleher, Consultant Addictions Psychiatrist and Lambeth Clinical Lead for Addictions, South London and Maudsley NHS Trust, said:
“Our hope is that this investment will support the entirety and intensity of treatment for people who use our services and support people who have faced trauma and difficult life experiences. This investment will strengthen and professionalise our workforce within addictions services.”
South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust (SLaM), together with the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience (IoPPN), King’s College London, are world-leaders in research on prevention of overdose deaths, first proposing Take-Home Naloxone (THN) to reduce heroin overdose death 25 years ago.
Pharmacists and nurses at the Trust are now piloting a project to support people in contact with the NHS’s wide range of treatment services in the community and inpatients on mental health units to take naloxone home following discharge – a service previously only been provided from within our addiction treatment services. Naloxone is a remarkable medicine which reverses the effects of opioids – it is essentially a ‘heroin antidote’.
