Coventry Community Safety Partnership

There are many different types of treatment for people misusing drugs which may involve keeping people healthly and free from blood borne viruses, preventing their drug use from spiralling further out of control, reducing the amount of drugs they take and helping them - when drug free - reintegrate into the community to give them them the best chance of avoiding any relapse.

Drug treatment is often seens as a journey, which many users take 5 - 7 years to complete.

Home Office estimates suggest that every £1 spent on drug treatment saves £9.50 in other health and criminal justice costs.

The different types of drug treatment services includes:

Advice and information

Advice and information is provided by non-specialists such as GP surgeries, accident and emergency departments and schools. Depending on where advice is being given, it includes:

• information about drugs and alcohol, and their effects
• advice on reducing and giving up drugs and alcohol
• information on reducing the potential harm from drug misuse, such as injecting more safely and preventing overdose
• how to get help for drug problems
• how to get help for other problems, such as housing and sexual health
• information for carers, partners and families of drug users

Harm reduction

Most harm reduction is about preventing diseases passed on by contaminated blood (particularly HIV and hepatitis infections), and preventing overdose and drug-related death. Examples of harm reduction service in Coventry are:

• needle exchange services, which distribute and dispose of needles, syringes and other injecting equipment (such as spoons, filters and citric acid)
• advice and support on injecting more safely, injecting less and preventing other people from starting to inject
• advice and information on preventing infections associated with drug misuse, particularly hepatitis A, B and C, and HIV (blood-borne viruses)
• testing, advice, information and counselling around hepatitis and HIV
• access to treatment for hepatitis B, C and HIV infection
• advice and support on preventing overdose and drug-related death

Prescribing substitute and other medication

Substitute drugs and other medication - like methadone - can help some people stabilise or reduce their drug use. It can be done by CDT (Coventry's drug treatment service) or through certain GPs. Prescribing includes:

• stabilising a client on substitute drugs
• prescribing substitute drugs, such as methadone and buprenorphine, for a sustained period (maintenance prescribing)
• prescribing for withdrawal (community detoxification)
• prescribing to prevent relapse

Counselling and psychological support

Counselling is carried out by trained professionals and is part of the overall package of treatment for many drug users. Psychological therapies can include cognitive behaviour therapy (CBT), coping skills, relapse prevention therapy, motivational interventions and family therapies.

Detox

This is known medically as “assisted withdrawal” and involves a stay as an inpatient. Most people receiving detox are given medication to help clear their bodies of drugs. The inpatient treatment can also include stabilisation on substitute medication, emergency medical care for drug users in crisis, and in some cases treatment for stimulant users. Inpatient treatment is provided in:

• specialist drug inpatient units (a whole ward or unit specifically for drug treatment)
• residential rehab units with attached detox units to help people come off drugs before entering the main rehab programme.

Clients are normally admitted into inpatient treatment through CDT. It is important that people leaving inpatient treatment receive proper support to maintain the positive changes they have made and prevent themselves relapsing.

Rehab

Residential rehabilitation (rehab) usually involves clients staying in a facility for weeks or months and a complete break from their current circumstances. Rehabs normally have a mixture of group work, counselling and other practical and vocational activities.

As with inpatient treatment, clients will generally access rehab through CDT. People entering rehab will often have gone through detox first. This detox could be somewhere else – for example in a hospital, or in the community – or at the rehab itself, if it has an attached detox unit.

Aftercare

Aftercare is support that is planned for when clients leave structured treatment. The aim is to maintain the positive developments clients have made in their treatment, and help them return to normal life. Examples include help with housing, education, employment, general health care and relapse prevention.

Contact

Substance Misuse Commissioner
Community Safety Team
Room 214 Broadgate House
Broadgate
Coventry CV1 1FS

Tel: 024 7683 2094
Fax: 024 7683 2978
Email: barry.eveleigh@coventry.gov.uk