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‘ I ’ m optimistic because I think this is a pivot moment and providers are ambitious and poised to push to new heights ... But we do need to invest now .’
DR LINDA HARRIS
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recovery walks . ‘ If you ’ d said 20 years ago there ’ s going to be 500 people with drug problems marching down the street most people probably would have locked their doors . Now they come out and applaud . Seeing people who they previously might have crossed the street to avoid as successful parents , workers , citizens is very powerfully destigmatising and hope-inspiring .’
KEY INGREDIENTS To deliver high quality , wellled services needed three key ingredients , said Dr Linda Harris , chief executive and clinical director of Spectrum Community Health CIC and chair of the health and justice clinical reference group at NHS England . ‘ But they ’ re huge . We need a positive culture , a capable workforce with the capacity and headspace to care safely and with compassion while being able to train and supervise the workforce of the future , and we need a team of teams . There ’ s no one agency that can solve this issue , so we need to collaborate to continually improve and innovate .’
There was also a ‘ post-
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pandemic societal context ’, she added , with the move to remote and flexible working and the digitisation of service offers . Competition for talent was a key issue , with an ongoing health and social care workforce crisis – ‘ we really have to get those sharp elbows out .’ Successful recruitment and retention meant competitive rewards and competitive terms and conditions . ‘ We want substance misuse services to be that great place to work , and that also means training and development .
‘ I think we can market our strengths ,’ she told the event . ‘ COVID has shone an enormous light on health inequalities and their root causes , and I think we can take our rightful place leading some of these population health interventions . I ’ m optimistic because I think this is a pivot moment and providers are ambitious and poised to push to new heights in quality improvement and achievement in the sector . But we do need to invest now .’
THE NEXT CHAPTER ‘ We ’ re really at the start of the next chapter in the history of our field ,’
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agreed director of Collective Voice , Oliver Standing . There was not only the second part of the Black review , but also technological innovation and the fact that the sector was becoming much more informed about the links between trauma and addiction .
‘ We ’ ve had the £ 80m in funding , the Black review ’ s dominating all of our thoughts , PHE has been cut in twain with the senior jobs at the Office of Health Promotion being recruited at the moment ,’ he said . ‘ Then there ’ s the Comprehensive Spending Review in the autumn , the NHS reforms , and an addiction strategy probably at the start of next year .’ And all were contingent on each other to a greater or lesser extent , he stated .
‘ Politics is all about momentum and we ’ ve got a window of opportunity here , but we need that political leadership . We need a robust political response to the review , and we need the funding to continue to support the work . We mustn ’ t forget we ’ re in the middle of a drug-related death crisis . This is a morally catastrophic thing , and we can ’ t ever forget that .’ DDN
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