If we are to cut crime and save lives there ' s one thing we can all agree on; we need fresh ideas.
Alcohol misuse is implicated in a third of child neglect and abuse cases
‘ Substantial health benefits’
News
WEST MIDLANDS PCC PROPOSES CONSUMPTION ROOMS AND PRESCRIBED HEROIN
A RANGE OF PROPOSED HARM REDUCTION MEASURES to cut drug-related crime and deaths, and reduce costs to public services, has been set out by West Midlands police and crime commissioner( PCC) David Jamieson. They include prescribing heroin in a medical setting for people who have not responded to other forms of treatment, establishing a formal scheme to divert people away from the courts and into treatment, and‘ considering the benefits’ of consumption rooms.
Other measures in the PCC’ s report include joining up funding streams for police, public health and community safety to increase efficiency, introducing on-site drug testing in the night-time economy, and equipping and training police in the use of naloxone. More money could also be seized from large-scale drug dealers to invest in treatment, it says. Half of all burglary, theft, shoplifting and robbery in the region is thought to be committed by people with serious drug issues, at a cost of £ 1.4bn per year. Jamieson’ s announcement follows similar proposals from other PCCs including those for Durham( DDN, March 2017, page 4) and North Wales( DDN, September 2017, page 5).
‘ Despite the good work being done by many, collectively our approach to drugs is failing,’ said Jamieson.‘ It means people are forced to live with more crime, public services are put under strain and not enough is done to reduce the suffering of those who are addicted. If we are to cut crime and save lives there ' s one thing we can all agree on; we need fresh ideas. These are bold but practical proposals that will reduce crime, the cost to the public purse and the terrible harm caused by drugs.’
Jamieson wanted to see many of the measures‘ in place and having an effect’ by the end of his term of office in 2020, he said.‘ I will be working with partner organisations intensively over the coming period to deliver on these practical and common-sense proposals.’
The announcement has been welcomed by organisations including Release, Transform, the Association of Police and Crime Commissioners and the Royal Society
BE BRIEF
TARGETED TRAINING leads to a‘ significant increase’ in the delivery of alcohol brief interventions in primary care, according to a study by Alcohol Research UK and SMMGP. Specifically trained nurse mentors are able to play a key role in leading and delivering interventions and brief advice( IBA), says the study, with even a‘ relatively low level of support’ helping to reduce alcohol-related harm within existing resources.‘ The primary care team has great strengths in identifying, assessing and preventing health harms,’ said lead author Dr Steve Brinksman. Supporting for Public Health( RSPH). The recommendations were an‘ important and welcome contribution to the growing momentum behind common sense drug policy reform in the UK’, said RSPH chief executive Shirley Cramer.‘ Health professionals, police, and the public are all agreed that a public health – rather than criminal justice – approach to drug policy is what is needed to tackle rising rates of drug harm in this country and beyond. It is heartening to hear more influential voices, with on the ground experience of these issues, give these measures their backing.’
The measures‘ would undoubtedly save lives if implemented’, added Release executive director Niamh Eastwood.‘ Yet again, the police are leading the way in the debate for drug policy reform while the government continues to pursue the failed approach of prohibition and criminalisation. The government must consider the insight of police officers, many of whom are on the frontline of the so-called war on drugs, witnessing the horrific impacts that prohibition has on communities every day.’
Read more on PCC strategies in our April issue.
nurse mentors could increase‘ practical implementation of an evidence-based cost effective intervention which has experienced patchy uptake’, he added. Supporting nurse mentors to reduce the barriers to implementing alcohol interventions and brief advice in primary care at alcoholresearchuk. org
PARENTING MATTERS
PARENTAL ALCOHOL MISUSE is implicated in more than a third of cases involving the death or serious injury of a child through neglect or abuse in England, according to a cross-party report from the Parliamentary Office of
If we are to cut crime and save lives there ' s one thing we can all agree on; we need fresh ideas.
DAvID JAmIeSon
Alcohol misuse is implicated in a third of child neglect and abuse cases
Science and Technology. Between 189,000 and 208,000 children are thought to live with an alcohol-dependent adult, although these figures are‘ likely to underestimate the scale of the issue’, says Parental alcohol misuse and children. Available at www. parliament. uk
PROBLEM PRESCRIPTIONS
NINE OUT OF TEN areas where GPs prescribe the most opioid drugs are in the north of England, according to UCL research published in the British Journal of General Practice. Prescriptions are‘ steadily rising’, particularly in deprived communities, it states.‘ We feel that the most important finding is the extremely strong association between the amount of opioids prescribed and lower socioeconomic status,’ said lead author Dr Luke Mordecai.‘ The variation across the country is undeniable and, given the morbidity and mortality associated with this class of drugs, unacceptable.’ A major independent review into the‘ growing problem’ of prescription drug dependency was recently launched by PHE( DDN, February, page 4). Patterns of regional variation of opioid prescribing in primary care in England at bjgp. org
RISK / REWARD
Vaping poses‘ only a small fraction’ of the risks of smoking, and NHS trusts should ensure that e-cigarettes are available for sale in hospital shops, says an updated evidence review from PHE. While switching completely from cigarettes to e-cigarettes conveys‘ substantial health benefits’, there is widespread public misunderstanding around vaping risks, it states.‘ It would be tragic if thousands of smokers who could quit with the help of an e- cigarette are being put off due to false fears about their safety,’ said PHE’ s director for health improvement Professor John Newton. E-cigarettes and heated tobacco products: evidence review at www. gov. uk
‘ Substantial health benefits’
ProfeSSor John newton
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