Report of Deputy Director of Public Health

The report provides the Committee with an updated overview of progress and activity for addiction services commissioned by Manchester Public Health Team.

The Committee considered the report of the Deputy Director of Public Health that provided information and an updated overview of progress and activity for addiction services commissioned by Manchester Public Health Team. This report followed an initial report to Health Scrutiny on 12 January 2022. 

Key points and themes in the report included:

·         Describing that Manchester City Council (Public Health) commissioned services were:

·           Manchester Integrated Alcohol & Drug Service for adults provided by Change, Grow, Live (CGL).

·           Young Person’s Specialist Substance Misuse Service, also provided by CGL.

·           In-patient Detoxification and Residential Rehabilitation Services provided by various providers.

·           Primary Care Community Pharmacy Services provided by various providers.

·           Manchester Dual Diagnosis Liaison Service provided by Greater Manchester Mental Health NHS Foundation Trust.

·           Drug and Alcohol Social Work Team, delivered by Manchester City Council.

·           Be Smoke Free, which was a community level Stop Smoking / Tobacco Treatment Service.

·         Providing a description of each service’s offer;

·         An outline of performance and an overview of trends; and

·         Describing positive developments and challenges identified.

The Committee then heard from Lucy-Rose Graham and Katherine Miller who spoke of their individual experiences. They described their respective reasons and circumstances that resulted in them accessing the service; their experience of treatment and support; and the positive outcomes achieved.

Some of the key points that arose from the Committee’s discussions were: -

·         Thanking the two citizens for attending the meeting and sharing their experience with Members;

·         What key message would the citizens present give as a means of improving the services described;

·         Calling on the Government to adequately fund these important services, noting the positive impact they had on people’s lives;

·         Noting the proliferation of Vape shops on the high street and the increased occurrence of vaping witnessed amongst young people;

·         What was the approach to Nitrous Oxide, commonly known as laughing gas; and

·         What provision was made by the services to accommodate people for whom English was not their first language.

Lucy-Rose Graham and Katherine Miller both stated that increased publicity of the respective services would be welcomed, noting that it was important for people to access the correct services and means of support. Consistency of staff was also noted as being important, commenting that trusted relationships were formed during the recovery period.

The Programme Lead commented on the points made regarding vaping. She stated that there was a need for a distinction to be made between vaping as a means of stepping down from tobacco addiction and the use of vaping as a recreational substance. She described that currently the legislation surrounding vaping was very limited and primarily fell under the remit of Trading Standards. She commented that the restrictions placed on the promotion and marketing of tobacco was not applicable to vaping. She advised that work was underway with schools to address the issue and highlight the harms of vaping amongst young people and in addition to this the North West Task Force was currently considering this also.

The Commissioning Manager stated that the issue of Nitrous Oxide was recognised as an issue across Greater Manchester. She stated that work was underway to raise awareness of the associated harms across a range of different professionals and with young people. She stated that it was important to change the perceptions of this substance. She further described that Nitrous Oxide is also a priority for the Community Safety Team, following increased reports of ASB related to its use. 

The Services Manager, CGL Manchester advised that the legal status of Nitrous Oxide was currently being reviewed and CGL were delivering specific work on this issue with schools.

The Nurse Manager, Be Smoke Free Manchester and the Services Manager, CGL Manchester both described the range of initiatives they used to accommodate and support all residents to access their respective services. These included using interpreters, drop in clinics, text service, attending events to support homeless people and targeted sessions in localities. 

Decision

To note the report.