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Contents
editor’s letter
ON THE COVER
‘It’s unsurprising that staff
are feeling demotivated’
Has commissioning become a race to the bottom? p6
4
NEWS
Welsh move to introduce minimum pricing; Trump declares ‘public health
emergency’.
6
WHAT’S THE NAME OF THE GAME?
Where now for commissioning? DDN reports.
9
NEWS FOCUS
Scotland addresses its drug death crisis.
10 ALCOHOL AWARENESS WEEK
A family focus for this year’s campaign.
12 JUST BE YOURSELF
Out in the Bay chief executive Robert Mee on turning adversity to advantage.
14 POST-ITS FROM PRACTICE
Are we under-dosing with OST, wonders Dr Steve Brinksman.
14 CLINICAL EYE
Take time for therapeutic engagement, says Ishbel Straker.
15 LETTERS
Russell rustles some feathers.
15 GAINING GROUND
The pressure to change policy is mounting, says Andrew Horne.
16 STRATEGY FOR SURVIVAL
Caroline Cole on staying afloat in troubled times.
18 LEGAL LINE
Haven’t got time for CQC? Solicitor Nicole Ridgwell advises on your approach.
18 MEDIA SAVVY
The news, and the skews, in the national media.
Reporter: David Gilliver
e: [email protected]
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Editor: Claire Brown
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A
commissioner said to me this week, ‘We need to know
what the evidence is, see good practice, do things like the
service user conference. And we need to get the right
information out there – like in your magazine – so people can say
“oh that’s an interesting, exciting idea”.’
I had been focusing on a crisis in the sector, as we all do when
faced with the unpalatable truth of worsening DRD statistics and
fewer resources. But it made me think that there’s a lot of mileage
in partnership working – a phrase so well used that we’re apt to
ignore it.
Our cover story (page 6) shows that the glue that holds
together successful partnerships is missing in many areas. The
pressure of having to do much more with much less can have a
damning effect on the imagination and it’s unsurprising that staff
are driven into feeling defensive and demotivated. Providers
obviously play a central role in turning this around – but is this
possible if they’re focused on survival? If the support networks –
and the hours in the day – are not there to help them work
constructively with commissioners, how is this achievable?
Caroline Cole suggests responding to the challenges by
borrowing from the corporate world (page 16), while Robert Mee
draws on his personal experience to share how he created his
support network for the LGBT+ community on page 12.
And finally, on page 10 we share resources to put this year’s
Alcohol Awareness Week campaign into action.
Claire Brown, editor
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November 2017 | drinkanddrugsnews | 3