Bury Council
Local Authority• The One Recovery Bury service, implemented in April 2014, provides flexible opening hours, including weekends and evenings. • Plans are being developed for early 2015 to enhance flexible service provision and to consider Bury’s needs for a 24/7 helpline service. • An Emergency Duty Team operates out-of-hours, and One Recovery Bury aims to see clients discharged from hospital within seven days of receiving information.
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Bury Prestwjch Radcliffe Ramsbottom I Tottington Whitefield I
Each SUI review is chaired by the Chief Executive Officer of ADS who then reports to the Board of Trustees. Full organisational governance of SUIs rests with the ADS Board of Trustees through the Board led Professional Committee, the Chair of which is a former CQC inspector, and senior local authority social services manager of mental health services. In direct response to matters of concern;
1. Lack of suitable out of hours service resulting in an undue burden being placed on emergency services and the NHS (none of whom are best placed to deal with and support those with drug addiction problems). ADS has for some considerable number of years provided a 24/7 helpline service for criminal justice clients who are taken into custody ‘out of hours’ as these service users were subject to the Drug Intervention Programme (DIP) and this was a requirement of the commissioned service. However, this arrangement is now being reviewed because most ‘new’ services are integrated and prefer a system of on call and cover arrangements to be more localised and based on demand. These arrangements are to be planned and delivered on a local basis and will include cover arrangements for periods of maximum disruption to the service such as Christmas/New year and bank holidays and also includes senior management cover on a Director rota which applies 52 weeks a year. Consideration of Bury’s needs in relation to 24/7 helpline service will be considered early in 2015. In relation to an undue burden being placed upon the emergency services and the NHS, One Recovery Bury is not commissioned as an emergency service: it is commissioned as a recovery orientated treatment services and is resourced and staffed on that basis. However, as part of overdose prevention and education all service users are informed to dial 999 in emergencies such as suspected overdose or other medical emergency. Currently, if a call is made to the service out of hours, callers are given details of opening times and then advised “in the event of a medical emergency please dial 999”. Bury Council has in operation an Emergency Duty Team which is available out of hours (from 16:45 to 08:45; weekends and bank holidays). The service operates a single point of entry and all calls to the service are recorded. Call records for June indicate that no call was received in relation to Mr Huggan.
2. Where the patient takes self-discharge following a life threatening drugs overdose, concerns arise around the timeliness of follow up/welfare checks, given the limitations of the service commissioned by the local authority. Where a patient takes self-discharge following a life threatening drug overdose. One Recovery Bury would arrange to see the client at the earliest opportunity upon receiving the information concerning discharge (currently, One Recovery Bury does not always receive this information).
We aim to see all clients leaving hospital within seven days (as per seven day follow-up). Any client leaving hospital is vulnerable to over dose, as are prison releases, particularly those who may have had a long hospital stay, had medication changes or have refrained from illicit drug use during their hospital stay.