‘ Be an activist and a realist’ Hayes urges service users
COMMENT
SOMETHING INSIDE SO STRONG
We’ re busy working on the programme for our annual DDN Conference – 9 July in Birmingham. To spur us on we looked at coverage of our very first conference in February 2008. The special issue of DDN is a snapshot in time, but we remember the passion for user activism and the determination to draw up the right terms of engagement – an ambition that’ s as strong as ever. We hope we’ ll see you in July! And in the meantime …
‘ Be an activist and a realist’ Hayes urges service users
It is essential that service users understand the reality of the world that they – and service providers – operate in, rather than having a‘ rose-tinted view’, NTA chief executive Paul Hayes told delegates. But this didn’ t mean that real opportunities did not exist.
‘ Service users as a group are unpopular with the public, compared to old ladies who need hip replacements or babies in incubators,’ he said.‘ You are seen as the authors of your own misfortune – there is no way we can hide from that. Reject the victim label, but also the fantasy that if everyone would stop stigmatising you everything would be alright,’ he urged.‘ Get active, and with a hardheaded reality of the society you are operating in. Be an activist and a realist – then you have a real opportunity.’
Paul Hayes was head of the National Treatment Agency( NTA), the special health authority set up by the government to improve drug treatment services in England
‘ DATs and policymakers have a responsibility to provide solutions but service users have responsibility to say what’ s working. We need to shift. Ten years ago nobody gave a shit what service users think. Now you are in a pivotal position.’ Simon Shepherd, CEO of the Federation of Drug and Alcohol Professionals( FDAP)
‘ Most of our service users have told us they don’ t want to be professionals learning the terminology. They want to be service users helping other service users.’ Kevan Martin, North East Regional Alcohol Forum,( NERAF)
‘ We never did it for the money … That was never the point. We came from the punk / DIY movement: if there were no gigs in your town you’ d organise them, not just moan about it – so when it took nearly six months to get a script, we applied the same logic!’ Si Parry, Morph drug user advocacy service and user forum, Southampton
‘ There’ s a strong feeling that we want to communicate through user groups and not be sterilised by government procedures.’ Delegate
‘ Feedback from the conference showed that meeting up with others from around the country and swapping experiences was one of the greatest benefits of attending, and many delegates wanted to know how they could permanently improve their networking.’ From conference report
‘ At 29 years old, I did not care if I lived or died. That first guy I saw had been right: I was on the scrap heap with no relationship. Drugs had taken away all that. This is where I got a break. I was sent to rehab instead of custody, and did 14 months in a tough rehab therapeutic community. It changed my life. It gave me hope and helped me build my self-esteem, giving me the opportunity to reinvent myself. And reinvent myself I did.’ Peter Martin, former CEO of Addaction
‘ We need creation of a central database – a resource that would include templates, an information exchange, training and a directory.’ Delegate
‘ Reactions to our first DDN / Alliance service user conference have been illuminating, interesting and inspiring for the next attempt … There was appetite for positive change and constructive liaison to get there – we now have to try and harness this energy to make it happen. One of the very strong messages that’ s come through already is how much people gained from sharing experiences with others from around the country.’
Claire Brown, DDN editor
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