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Contents
editor’s letter
ON THE COVER
Get Connected – The conference of the year
4
NEWS
West Midlands PCC proposes harm reduction; focus on older people.
6
GET CONNECTED: THE DDN CONFERENCE
All the reports from DDN’s vibrant annual service user involvement conference.
16 ONE SIZE FITS NOBODY
With evidence that people are losing their OST of choice, a meeting at
conference asked ‘are you getting what you want?’
19 LETTERS AND COMMENT
The power of e-cigs; conference helped recovery; illustrating the Cycle of Change
20 VITAL LINKS
NHSSMPA looks at new ways to help stay connected with essential healthcare.
22 BRIEF ENCOUNTER
What happened to alcohol brief interventions? Mike Ashton looks back.
24 HAVE YOUR SAY!
Don’t miss the chance to change CQC inspections, says David Finney.
25 LEGAL LINE
‘How do we challenge our CQC inspection?’ Nicole Ridgwell advises.
‘It showed
that where
there’s a will,
things happen’
H
ow do we get connected? With healthcare, with peers,
colleagues, commissioners, policymakers, politicians? It’s a
question that goes far beyond the DDN conference – but
the spirit of this event confirmed that where there’s a will, things
can happen.
On the following pages you will find not just the record of the
day’s events, but a host of possibilities, questions and ideas. How can
we make sure the relationship between those providing and seeking
healthcare is as good as it can be? How do we ensure these all-
important interactions are not one dimensional, but create pathways
to other vital support services and branches of healthcare? What do
we do if we’re not getting the treatment we need?
The crucial component in a day like this is those who come along
to say ‘I did it like this and it worked for me’ – call it expertise by
experience, service user involvement, or whatever you will. But
whether it’s hepatitis C treatment, supported housing, education
and training, or taking part in local decision-making, the people who
look back after they have tried the route are the ones who leave
doors open for the rest of us.
Equally important was the emphasis on ‘having your say’ – PHE,
commissioners and researchers all wanted service user involvement
in feedback, planning and ‘lived experience’. This surely must give
impetus to including peer-led groups and enterprises as a standard
component in every local tender.
Claire Brown, editor
Keep in touch at www.drinkanddrugsnews.com and @DDNmagazine
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Reporter: David Gilliver
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March 2018 | drinkanddrugsnews | 3