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AGEIST AGENDA
Better knowledge is needed of what works in the
identification, treatment and prevention of drug
problems in older people, according to a report
from the Big Lottery Fund, along with improved
collection and reporting of data. Drug use among
older people is being ‘systematically ignored’, says
The forgotten people: drug problems in later life
.
‘Tackling ageist attitudes’ and improving the
knowledge and skills of professionals were also
necessary, said report author Sarah Wadd, as well
as ‘making sure that drug treatment services are
accessible and meet the needs of older people’.
Report at www.biglotteryfund.org.uk See news
focus, page 6
CHALLENGING TIMES
The scale of the new psychoactive substances
problem may be ‘even greater than estimated’, with
services ill equipped to cope, according to a report
from the Royal College of Psychiatrists (RPsych).
Users may be reluctant to access help, while staff
may not ask about the drugs during routine drug
assessments ‘or have the skills to deal with
problems when they arise’, says
One new drug a
week: why novel psychoactive substances and club
drugs need a different response from UK treatment
providers
. The challenge was to ‘keep pace with
this growing problem, while continuing to meet the
demands of more established substance misuse
problems associated with alcohol, heroin and crack
cocaine’, said Owen Boden-Jones of CNWL’s club
drug clinic.
Report at www.rcpsych.ac.uk
HEP FEEDBACK
A global patient survey to reveal how hepatitis C is
treated around the world has been developed by
the World Hepatitis Alliance. HCV Quest is ‘your
platform to share your thoughts about your care,
the impact of HCV on things like your work and
lifestyle and the sources you trust for credible
advice about your health’, says the alliance, with
the results used to inform policy-makers, doctors
and pharmaceutical companies.
www.worldhepatitisalliance.org/en/hcv-quest.html
STARK STATS
Greater Manchester sees an average of just over
19 emergency hospital admissions for alcohol-
related liver disease every week, according to
figures from the Health and Social Care Information
Centre (HSCIC). Areas of the North West and North
East of England have the highest admission rates
in the country, says the centre, with hospitals
nationally admitting more than 10,000 cases of
alcohol-related liver disease in 2013/14 – more
than 200 a week. Alongside Greater Manchester,
Merseyside and Lancashire were the areas with the
highest rates of emergency admissions, with
around eight and nine per
week on average
respectively.
Statistics at www.hscic.gov.uk
See this month’s Exchange, page 13.
Nearly, 2,000 drug misuse deaths were registered
in England and Wales in 2013, according to figures
from the Office for National Statistics (ONS).
Male drug misuse deaths involving illegal drugs
rose by 23 per cent, from 1,177 in 2012 to 1,444,
while female deaths were up by 12 per cent to 513.
The upward trend is in contrast to Scotland, which
saw deaths fall by 9 per cent over the same period
(
DDN
, September, page 4).
Heroin/morphine remained the substances most
commonly involved, up 32 per cent to 765 deaths,
while 220 deaths involving the synthetic opiate
tramadol were also recorded. Overall, nearly 3,000
drug poisoning deaths – including those involving legal
drugs – were registered in England and Wales in 2013,
more than 2,000 of them among males. In England, the
North East was the region with the highest mortality
rate from drug misuse, while London had the lowest.
The number of deaths involving new psychoactive
substances was up by 15 per cent – from 52 to 60 –
although the increase ‘was not as steep as that
observed between 2011 and 2012’, says the document.
DrugScope expressed ‘serious concerns’ over the
figures, which marked a ‘reversal of the recent
downward trend and appear to show the sharpest
increase since the early 1990s’, said chief executive
Marcus Roberts. ‘Of course, this is about more than
just numbers; each death represents a tragedy for the
individual concerned, their family and friends.’
The charity also urged the government to review
the timetable for its proposed roll-out of naloxone
provision – currently scheduled for October next year
at the earliest – so that ‘this life-saving medication can
be used as soon as possible, to prevent more people
from dying’. Commenting on the release of the
Scottish figures last month, community safety minister
Roseanna Cunningham pointed out that nearly 4,000
naloxone kits had been issued in Scotland in 2012-13,
‘potentially saving more than 350 lives’.
Deaths related to drug poisoning in England and
Wales, 2013 at www.ons.gov.uk
See news focus, page 6
4 |
drinkanddrugsnews
| October 2014
www.drinkanddrugsnews.com
News |
Round-up
NEWS IN BRIEF
England and Wales see
sharp rise in drug deaths
The Care Quality Commission (CQC) has set out its new
approach to inspecting drug and alcohol services,
which will ‘reflect national priorities’ and ‘put people’s
recovery at the heart’. Also central to the inspection
regime will be a ‘commitment to tailor inspections to
the issues that matter to people using substance
misuse services’, it says.
The CQC’s aim is to ensure that people are able to
‘quickly access high-quality services that assess the
whole individual’, it states. The commission will ‘seek to
ensure that services are safe, caring, effective,
responsive to people's needs and well-led’.
CQC will be responsible for regulating hospital
inpatient-based services that provide assessment,
stabilisation, and assisted withdrawal, as well as
community-based services and residential rehab.
Alongside therapists, doctors, psychologists and
pharmacists, the commission’s ‘specially trained
inspection teams’ will include ‘experts by experience', it
says, and will also use information from service users,
their families and carers. ‘Key relationships’ for
corroborating its decisions, meanwhile, will include
Public Health England (PHE), NICE, local authorities and
other relevant bodies.
‘It is vital when looking at substance misuse services
that the views, opinions and experiences of people who
use them are listened to and that any judgement that
we make about those services reflects what we have
heard,’ said CQC’s chief inspector of hospitals, Professor
Sir Mike Richards, who will lead the inspection
programme. ‘I am determined that this experience of
care and treatment form a central part of the future
inspection of services.
‘I will be giving ratings to substance misuse service
providers so people can be clear about the quality of
services and to help drive improvement,’ he continued.
‘Where we can, we will align our inspections of
substance misuse services with other sectors we
regulate, such as community mental health or learning
disability services, community services, primary care
services and acute hospitals.’
CQC is also consulting on its guidelines for health
and social care services ‘to set the bar below which care
should not fall’, including what providers should do
when things go wrong and how to ensure staff are fit
for their roles.
Consultation at
www.cqc.org.uk/content/consultation-our-guidance-
help-services-meet-new-regulations, until 17 October.
A fresh start for the regulation and inspection of
substance misuse services at www.cqc.org.uk
See David Finney’s article, DDN, July, page 16.
CQC pledges to focus on
‘the issues that matter’