Drug Treatment Services

Please click here for a list of treatment services within Birmingham

Primary Care & Drug Solutions Birmingham

Over 1500 drug users are delivered drug treatment through their GP with the support of a drug worker.  Drug workers offer a range of interventions from support to a series of prescribing options, to motivational work, relapse prevention, referral into housing, employment, training and change in offending behaviour.  Drug workers work in partnership with Probation and Police to deliver treatment services for those offenders in the criminal justice system and prolific and priority offenders.

Community pharmacists deliver needle exchange and supervised consumption.

Community Drug Teams

There are four Community Drug Teams (CDTs) providing a range of treatment options for drug users including:

Prescribing - maintenance & reduction;

Structured Intervention - social behavioural network therapy, solution focused, cognitive behavioural therapy;

Harm Reduction - needle exchange, relapse prevention, advice and information.

Drugline, Turning Point

Drugline is a city centre based service providing outreach, harm reduction, prescribing clinics and structured counselling.  Drugline also operates a city centre needle exchange scheme.

Drug Treatment & Testing Order Team (DTTO)

The team provides a service to those offenders in partnership with the Probation Service.  Offenders are required to attend treatment to address offending behaviour and persistent drug use.  Treatment options include harm reduction, motivational interventions and structured one to one and group counselling.  Support mechanisms are also in place to provide services around housing, employment and training.

HIAH

A young people's treatment service where the holistic needs of the child are coordinated and a range of multi-disciplinary options are available.  Young people's services are very much linked to mainstream services to ensure as many agencies are working together.

Phoenix & Turning Point - Day Care

These programmes provide a structure of activity based sessions to reintegrate the individual into communities and provide holistic intervention around housing, education, life skills, IT, art and relapse prevention as well as structured treatment interventions.

In-patient Services

A 14-bedded inpatient unit is in place for drug users going through either a detoxification or stablisation programme.

Residential Rehabilitation

Residential placements are available through care assessments and although there is not a residential home in Birmingham, there is a range of homes accessible, depending on the individual needs of the drug user. Residential rehabilitation usually involves a 9-12 month programme of rehabilitation following detoxification.

Vulnerable Services

There are a series of specialist services available for vulnerable groups:

• Rough sleeper outreach and treatment
• Rough sleeper prescribing clinic
• Safe project for street workers
• Outreach
• Drug tenancy support workers to find and support housing needs
• Specialist mother and baby unit
• Blood Borne Virus unit
• Drug and Alcohol liaison nurse (posted in hosptial)

Drug Concern

 Service for parents, carers and those affected by someone else's drug use.  The service provides specialist sessions across the treatment provision as well as providing specialist parenting programmes with young people's treatment service and the Youth Offending Service.

Workforce & Training

Over a period of three years the number of workers int he drug field has increased from 50 to just over 450.  Core training is required for all workers in treatment services to attend child protection, diversity and care assessment and care planning training.  All job descriptions are compliant with the Drug and Alcohol National Occuptional Standards (DANOS)

Training has been made available for staff in crack, poly-drug use, mental health and dual diagnosis, drug use and pregnancy, harm reduction and care planning.  Birmingham has a trainee scheme with DSB to induct and train generic partnership staff such as social services, probation, education and youth offending staff into the drugs field.

Cross partnership training with Birmingham City Council Children and Family Services and West Midlands Police.

 User Involvement

There are several drug user and parent/carer support groups in Birmingham.  The partnership works with these groups for consultation and feedback of treatment services and planning for future services.  The groups have also been integral in the organisation of the first Birmingham Drug User Conference and in the drug related death and overdose campaigns.

Crack & Stimulant Services

Birmingham has one of the only dedicated specialist crack team in the country.  The team delivers specialist interventions to crack users as well as working with other teams and treatment providers to increase the specialist skills and knowledge required to work with this client group.  Key areas for development include:

• Increase access into treatment, particularly for underserved groups e.g. women & BME communities
• Develop models of peer education and community understanding
• To reduce levels of crime relating to crack use
• To reduce levels of harm caused by crack to users and communities
• To increase community safety and perception of safety in the community

Drug Intervention Programme (DIP)

The DIP programme aims to reduce levels of drug related crime by moving offenders into drug treatment programmes.  Offenders are tested on arrest for heroin and/or crack and referred into treatment services to provide a series of interventions that will provide an ongoing support system to deal with the drug use and offending behaviour.

Sytems are in place through DIP to engage with offenders throughout the criminal justice system.  Court systems and outreach workers will engage with offenders who have not been seen by an Arrest Referral Worker or treatment service to provide further opportunities for treatment.  There is also a route into treatment and/or aftercare on exit from custody or from structured treatment interventions such as residential rehabilitation, day care or community drug teams.  Aftercare services include support for housing, education training and employment, rapid prescribing, dual diagnosis and relapse prevention.