We ’ ll be engaging with people across a range of settings , working out what they need and adapting our approach to fit around them . The broad aim of the pathway , which includes inpatient detox and step-down rehabilitation beds , is to improve the experience , outcomes , quality of life , and life expectancy of the people we work with and we ’ re proud to be part of it .

Phoenix have been delivering support to those in housing need for most of our 50-year history and have long been vociferous advocates for an improvement in access to treatment for people who are homeless . According to the Greater London Authority ’ s CHAIN report , 60 per cent of the 11,000 rough sleepers encountered by outreach teams in London last year were assessed as having a drug or alcohol-related need . This is a group of people who are largely excluded from health services , with often limited access to primary care , and the barriers to drug and alcohol treatment are numerous and can be both practical and personal .

Experiences of discrimination , disadvantage , and trauma are compounded by the inherent instability , stress , and physical and psychological burden of homelessness . Attendance at

regular pre-arranged appointments takes gargantuan effort when you are sleeping in a doorway . It ’ s remarkable that some people manage it . Yet this group is so often characterised as not wanting support or as having made a ‘ lifestyle choice ’. Here , with this new pathway , we have a small opportunity to change this narrative .

We have long argued that a housing-led approach to resolving homelessness ignores the complexity of the problem . Accommodation can provide some relief from some of the physical and psychological effects of rough sleeping . However , we at Phoenix believe that we should aspire to more for the people we work with . Addiction prevents the great majority of those who use drugs or alcohol problematically from achieving their full potential and ultimately leaves them vulnerable to repeat homelessness . That ’ s why

we ’ ve campaigned for the right of people who sleep rough to be given the opportunity to access drug and alcohol treatment , and that ’ s why we ’ re so excited to be part of this brilliant new pathway .

We have a proud history of developing strong partnerships with other agencies . Our ambition for this service is that we work as one multi-disciplinary team with our partners in the pathway , learning about and leaning into each other ’ s strengths as we develop greater understanding of how to flex services to meet the individual where they are – and creating nothing less than systems change .

Vicky Ball is head of housing at Phoenix Futures

Pictured : Central London , February 2022 . A street in Covent Garden is filled with tents and cardboard shelters belonging to homeless people . By Matthew Ashmore / Alamy

Sixty per cent of the 11,000 rough sleepers encountered by outreach teams in London last year were assessed as having a drugor alcohol-related need .