Drug Death Campaign Hears Front Line Voices

With the Dundee Drugs Commission now reconvened to measure progress on its recommendations, the Dundee Alcohol and Drug Partnership (ADP) has carried out a self-assessment exercise to hear the views of those at the sharp end of work to help improve local services.

People with lived experience, their families and front-line staff have taken part and put forward their opinions about the city’s situation.

Findings will be considered by both the city council’s policy & resources committee and Dundee Health and Social Care Partnership Integration joint board (IJB) at meetings on August 23 and 25.

A report outlines how the self-assessment has identified a number of actions where the ADP recognises “an urgent need to accelerate work to strengthen partnership working to overcome any remaining barriers to progress and full implementation”.

Funding from Dundee City Council of £1 million is outlined alongside investment from the Scottish Government to show how actions in the Dundee Partnership’s Action Plan for Change are being supported.

The council and partnership are also being asked to seek funding opportunities to address further development.

Council leader Councillor John Alexander said: “Since the Drugs Commission delivered its recommendations two years ago, partners across the city have been working together to ensure real progress is made to improve the situation. 

“The latest drug death statistics, while still outlining a horrific toll of suffering, do give us some early indications that we are moving in the right direction. 

“Tremendous efforts across the drug services and third sector organisations should be recognised and I’m grateful to every single’s persons contribution to tackling this difficult issue, particularly during the pandemic.”

Councillor Alexander added: “Areas of services still face pressures and there is much more to do, however I am heartened by the honest responses of both staff and the people who use services to this self-assessment. 

“When we are dealing with such a significant threat to human life as drugs, when we see the toll that it takes on families and communities, we cannot shirk from the honest responses of those who experience exactly what is going on. 

“None of us involved in this effort can hide from the reality of the situation. It is only by facing up to the stark truth that we can better shape services to improve lives and stop the suffering.” 

The self-assessment sets out in detail the significant progress that has been achieved across the Dundee Partnership through an Action Plan for Change over the last two years. It summarises the findings of a thorough process, led by the ADP, that included speaking with people affected by drug use, their family members/carers, service providers and the workforce.

They were asked about the impact of drug related deaths, changes to pathways of care and support, personalisation of service provision and the development of a culture of collaborative working.

Findings also contain reflections from leaders about the effectiveness of leadership and scrutiny arrangements.

The self-assessment has been submitted to the Drugs Commission as part of its work.

Publication of the self-assessment comes soon after it was confirmed that the city had received funding of £450,000 from the national Drug Deaths Taskforce to develop an integrated substance use and mental health response. This will be delivered within communities, and will include crisis interventions at evenings and weekends.

Councillor Ken Lynn, chair of the health and social care partnership IJB said: “The situation in Dundee is unprecedented and demands the strongest response possible. Our innovative work to provide a joint substance use and mental health approach will be Scotland-leading and I hope will integrate services in a vastly improved way for the people who really need them.

“Everyone involved in this effort from across the wider Dundee Partnership is absolutely determined to turn this terrible situation around. We are under no illusions about the scale of the task and the commitment it will take to heal decades of tragedy. We are committed to do this properly. It is members of our communities and their families and friends who are suffering and they deserve a better future.

“The self-assessment exercise shows how seriously we are taking this task and how we need to hear from those on the front line because their views are crucial in helping us to deliver meaningful and lasting change. We cannot ignore those voices and we need to hear where people think we can do better.”                                                                 

Simon Little, Independent Chair of the ADP said: “Over the past two years I have seen significant improvements in many aspects of the city's response to substance use issues. For progress to be sustained the ADP and its individual partners must be honest and open about the challenges that remain, and actively engage stakeholders in finding solutions to these. This self-assessment shows a willingness to do that and it is clear about the immediate priorities.”

A report to the council and IJB explains that the self-assessment focused on opportunities for learning and improvement while conducting an honest, rigorous process that did not shy away from difficult issues.

The self-assessment has been informed by evidence gathered through:

·        Focus groups with the workforce (30 participants) and people with lived experience of drug use (38 participants);

·        Service monitoring reports from 24 individual services working with people impacted by drug  use;

·        A workforce survey (59 responses);

·        The submission of case studies from service providers;

·        A leadership self-assessment and supporting workshop; and,

·        A review of key strategic and operational reports and documents, as well as an analysis of relevant performance information.

The self-assessment found that during the COVID-19 lockdowns significant innovative practices were developed. There was also an improved collaborative approach between service providers, specifically between public and third sector organisation. Trust and relationships between key partners were strengthened, and a more focused shared improvement agenda emerged for all partners.

However, the report adds, the evidence also identifies that partners still have significant progress to make in specific areas.

A renewed focus will now be placed on communication with the workforce and stakeholders, partnership working, staffing issues, available treatment options and choice and access to mental health services, lived experience and leadership.

The ADP will take forward work to adjust its Action Plan for Change to reflect the findings of the self-assessment.

This will mean increasing the focus on development of a shared care model and bringing about the integration of substance use and mental health through full delivery of the Dundee Substance Use and Mental Health Integration Project (funded through the Drug Death Taskforce). More work will be undertaken on early intervention and prevention, resolving the current pressures on Dundee Drug and Alcohol Recovery Service and in securing future investments.

The report adds; “The multi-agency workforce remains the biggest asset in collective work to implement improvements and they have demonstrated commitment, flexibility and resilience in the most exceptionally challenging of circumstances; the ADP, Dundee City Council and Health and Social Care Partnership recognise the need to continue to invest in their wellbeing in order to achieve the immediate priorities we have identified and to progress the whole of the action plan for change to full implementation over the coming months and years.”