Agenda item

Report by the Director of Public Health.

The report outlines progress on the effectiveness of service arrangements, performance and high level Public Health Outcome Framework outcomes.

21.1    The Committee considered a report by the Director of Public Health (copy appended to the signed minutes) which was introduced by Philippa Gibson, Senior Commissioning Manager (Substance Misuse) who told the Committee: -

·       The £5m cost of the contract with Care, Grow, Live (CGL) to provide a health, wellbeing and recovery service was mainly funded from the Public Health Grant

·       There had been sustained improvements in key measures of treatment outcomes since 2017 despite an increase in demand and complexity of cases

·       There is a shared priority with service and Public Health England to reduce further drug related deaths.

·       The direction and focus of future work would be influenced by an audit into drug-related deaths

·       Over the last four years, there have been a number of successful bids to Public Health England primarily for capital monies but also for revenue.

·        Partnership priorities include the following

Ø  Prevention and Behaviour Change

Ø  Treatment and Support

Ø  Enforcement and Regulation

·       Services needed to be easier to access

·       Better feedback and analysis of risks was required to help service response

21.2    Ian Dunster, Service Manager, West Sussex Drug and Alcohol Wellbeing Network told the Committee: -

·       Interventions included specialist prescribing and psychosocial interventions were generally working well

·       With numbers of people seeking treatment increasing, help was required with caseloads with 100 – 180 referrals coming in per month

·       People often also had problems with housing, mental health difficultiesand unemployment

·       The Service had a specific team supporting young people and their families

·       Over 200 partner agency staff had been trained to use Naloxone to treat overdoses and three lives had been saved so far by CGL staff using Naloxone

·       Naloxone was available from 28 pharmacies in the county

Hepatitis C testing was available, but many people did not like the fact that it took place in hospitals, so the service was working with health colleagues and partner agencies to improve the offer

21.3    Katherine Wadbrook, Service Manager - CGL West Sussex Young Persons and Families Services told the Committee: -

·       Innovation fund money from Public Health England was available to help children affected by parental alcohol misuse and pregnant women who were misusing alcohol 

21.4    Kerry Lemon, CGL Service User Involvement Lead told the Committee that she had been addicted to alcohol and heroine and spent time in prison and been homeless in Chichester before receiving help from CGL. She had not always attended appointments with CGL and an end of live care plan had been prepared for her. She went to a treatment centre for nine weeks and has been clear of addiction for two years and now works as a peer mentor for CGL.

21.5    Summary of responses to the Committee’s comments and questions: -

·       All treatment was voluntary, and the figures took into account those who had moved out of the area

·       Due to the complexities and difficulties of beating addiction, any success was welcomed

·       Outcomes included: -

Ø  People injecting drugs to reduce safely within three months

Ø  Just under 90% of people referred for detoxification completed their treatment

·       No revenue bids were currently available from Public Health England

·       Nearly all drug dependencies were for heroine, but spice users were also treated

·       The number of naloxone kits in an area was demand-led

·       CGL provided information packs for schools, visited children’s homes and attended fresher fairs at universities

·       Information submitted by service to the Council’s commissioner was shared with district and borough councils

·       Responding to misuse of over the counter medication was not a core service offer, but might be something the partnership wished to consider when reviewing the findings of the Drug Related Death Audit

·       CGL and other providers worked with a number of prisons and this included developing community/prison protocols and joint working

·       Drug related deaths can be of individuals who may also have relatively poor physical and/or mental health

·       People who didn’t attend scheduled appointments with CGL might have to wait till another became available

·       Deaths (for whatever reason) of people known to service were reported to the Council’s commissioner

·       Public Health aimed to tackle drug misuse by measuring evidence-based outcomes through the Joint Strategic Needs Assessment and a collaborative working agreement with partners would be launched in October to decide which partner led in which area

·       60% of patients did not use drugs on top of the treatment they received

21.6    Resolved – that the Committee: -

1. welcomes the work which has been done to date and service user involvement
2. recognises the positive figures in West Sussex in relation to the national average, especially due to the complex nature of this cohort of the West Sussex population