greatest worry about my review and its potential is can we deliver it at the local level ,’ Professor Dame Carol Black told the Westminster Social Policy Forum ’ s Tackling drug dependence and improving delivery of services seminar . ‘ We ’ ve acquired the investment – that was of course crucial , but there must be much greater accountability for the spend .’

The Treasury fully intended to ‘ hold us to account ’, she stated , echoing warnings from others in the field ( DDN , February , page 8 ). Local authorities would need to work with wider health , employment , housing support , criminal justice and social care , and develop joint commissioning plans and joint needs assessments . Years of austerity had meant that the idea of creating a whole systemsapproach ‘ wasn ’ t able to happen ’, she said , ‘ and what I ’ m hoping from my review is that we ’ ll now be able to do that , because it ’ s absolutely needed .’ This would require at least six departments of state to be ‘ truly and sustainably involved ’, she said . While it ‘ wasn ’ t that they hadn ’ t been interested before ’, competing

priorities meant that it had always been low on their agenda .

All but one of the 32 recommendations in her Review of drugs : phase two report had been taken on board in the government ’ s new drug strategy , which was ‘ very pleasing ’ – and accompanied by a financial settlement that was ‘ probably 70 per cent of what I ’ d asked for in the original part two review ’ and ‘ very big ’ ambition . ‘ But I don ’ t want , now that we ’ ve got more money , to just do more of the same ,’ she stated . ‘ This is a unique opportunity to really think about what does a very good treatment and recovery service look like .’

STARTING FROM A LOW BASE It was important to be aware that in some places ‘ we ’ re starting from a low base , and we ’ ll need to support and enable improvement in some of our local areas ,’ she said . The sector was facing a challenging journey , not least in terms of re-building the workforce . ‘ That ’ s going to require a really sustained focus – we can ’ t just do it overnight .’ Similarly , research had been ‘ bottom of the pile ’ in almost every aspect of addiction , with a corresponding lack of financial support .

Workforce was a ‘ critical challenge ’, agreed head of

‘ How do we keep this energy up ... There ’ s a willingness to think about doing things differently .’

DAME CAROL BLACK

inclusion at Midlands Partnership NHS Foundation Trust , Danny Hames . There was promising evidence of positive cross-sector working , but providers needed to be ‘ brave and a bit humble ’, he said . ‘ We need to open ourselves up to accountability and be transparent , but we also need to be sure we ’ re working in the best interests of patients . Collaboration is absolutely key .’

‘ We need to be sure we ’ re working in the best interests of patients . Collaboration is key .’

DANNY HAMES

MOVING FORWARD ‘ We ’ re at the point where we have to look at the competence of our own clinical practices and commissioning process so we can move the field forward ,’ said head of King ’ s College London ’ s National Addiction Centre , Professor Sir John Strang . One of the major challenges would be improving the quality – as well as the quantity – of treatment , and there

Irina Zadvinskaya / iStock

8 • DRINK AND DRUGS NEWS • MARCH 2022

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