SERVICES
RAPID
RESPONSE
Lee Wilson explains how
Humankind’s partnership in
Leeds has been pulling out all the
stops to keep service users and their families safe
T
he flexibility and innovation shown
by the sector across the UK has
been phenomenal and we are very
proud of how all our partnerships
have worked collaboratively to meet
service user needs.
The Humankind partnership service in Leeds
is a fantastic example of this. Forward Leeds and
their aftercare service 5 WAYS have put in place
a comprehensive programme that continues to
support people when their traditional recovery
network has fallen away.
The new programme consists of eight Zoom
meetings a week, including a SMART meeting,
three general recovery groups, a quiz, an adult
learning course and mindfulness, and we’ve just
added ‘song of the week’ which is a discussion
on songs that service users are finding
inspirational.
There is also a range of mindfulness videos
and ‘five ways to wellbeing’ videos on our
YouTube channel that are accessible to anyone,
as well as podcasts to download, and our
group workers have made lots of their written
resources available to for anyone to download.
These digital interventions are just part of
a package of support that we’ve put in place.
We’ve called each of our 3,300+ service users in
Leeds to make sure they’re ok, and for those we
couldn’t reach by phone we’re carrying out home
visits. Importantly we’re still working with all
our clients towards their treatment goals using
video calls and Zoom whenever possible to make
the experience as rich as we can.
Our clinical and prescribing team has worked
A HUB IN GOOD HEALTH
There’s a new version of business as
usual, says Sam Thomson at North
Yorkshire Horizon’s Selby hub
I
n normal times, our Selby hub is a really
busy place. We’ve got a town centre
location and we’re well known in the
community, but people can visit us
discreetly.
We have appointments, referrals, triages
and group meetings, and we run the breakfast
club. The Selby hub offers health and wellbeing
checks including health screenings, blood
testing and vaccinations. We work closely with
12 • DRINK AND DRUGS NEWS • MAY 2020
local partners including the food bank and
a homelessness charity. Workers run several
outreach clinics in the rural district.
A lot of things have changed since the
lockdown, but we continue to treat people with
respect and support them fully. This is paying
dividends because people are telling us they
understand that things have had to change, and
they appreciate the work we’re doing to keep the
impact of the changes to a minimum.
Everyone has been happy with the social
distancing we practise in the hub, and we’ve
had no problems. Obviously, we’re being vigilant
about our high-risk clients and constantly
assessing how we can support them and their
loved ones while they’re shielding and self-
isolating.
The team is focused on doing psychosocial
interventions on the phone, offering regular
harm minimisation advice and continuing
to give out naloxone kits. We’re also posting
information out to clients.
Our hub is open to answer the phone,
cover reception and offer open access needle
exchange. We’re continuing to take referrals and
offer triages and comprehensive assessments.
Something that we feel is very important is
to signpost our service users to SMART online
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