Gloucestershire : New £6m programme for drug and alcohol problems

THE way drug and alcohol problems are dealt with in Gloucestershire could change if new service providers are taken on.

NHS Gloucestershire has announced the preferred bidders to take on multi-million pound contracts to support addicts.

If the contracts are signed it would mean health and social care organisation Turning Point, dealing with some 2,000 patients a year with drug problems and 750 with alcohol issues.

The £6 million Roads to Recovery programme would create a 24-hour service working from six hubs across the county. It will create a one-stop shop for those with problems, as opposed to going to different organisations for their care – including addiction, housing support and criminal justice along with reduction and preventative services.

The charity Independence Trust, which has been providing these services, lost out in the bidding process.

Peter Steel, chief executive, said: “We are devastated to lose this contract. We are a Gloucestershire charity that has been providing services for people in the county for 50 years. To lose a local contract comes as a significant blow to us and all we stand for.”

He also raised a concern about how smaller local voluntary sector organisations, without full-time business generation departments, can successfully compete with national providers for public sector contracts.

However, with 2gether NHS Foundation Trust and The Nelson Trust, they will form In2Recovery, a partnership which will take on the same services in prison. The £850,000 a year contract will help around 600 prisoners each year deal with their drug and alcohol problems.

The contracts are due to be signed off next month and come into effect in April for three years, with the option of a two year extension.

A spokesman for NHS Gloucestershire ruled out any cuts to services.

Director of public health for Gloucestershire, Dr Shona Arora, said: “Our top priority is securing the very best services for Gloucestershire and this has been our guiding principle throughout this process.”