Joining Things Up (again ....)
(Cartoon courtesy of Hugh MacLeod and Gaping Void )
Despite the fact that we have a new drug strategy with a renewed focus on joined up local working, we don't really have a structure either locally or nationally that's fit to deliver it. If the ambitions of the new drug strategy - particularly those around employment, housing and reintegration are to be met, we need to learn from our own history and look at how we can strengthen and re-establish our approach to partnerships such that they're up to delivery. Any new structures or frameworks will need to avoid the pitfalls of the past - and put the people directly affected by substance use in the driving seat.
Inspecting the field - Harm Reduction and Commissioning Systems
Scoring local areas from "weak" to "excellent" the review gives us some interesting information about the maturity of our commissioning systems and the effectiveness of harm reduction implementation and planning, but does the inspection report raise more questions than it answers?
Read More...Ever Decreasing Pools
But why has the allocations system changed, what information are they using to work out what different areas get and what's it going to mean for services, service users and communities?
How Was It For You - A Drug Policy Review of the Year (Part Two)
How Was It For You? - A Drug Policy Review of the Year (Part 1)
(Thanks to The Daily Dose and Drink and Drugs News for their impeccably kept online archives - without them I would have had to make it all up ... then again, you couldn't really could you?)
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