The annual joint meeting with the Manchester and District Medicolegal Society. This will be a FACE TO FACE meeting and is being held at the Midland Hotel, 16 Peter Street, Manchester, M60 2DS (Directions and Parking)
The room the meeting is being held in will be indicated on a NoticeBoard at the Midland Hotel. There is no requirement to book a place in advance.
7.30 pm
Professor Dame Carol Black, ‘Drug Dependency Services Intolerably Weak – Making Them World Class?’
Synopsis of lecture:
Part 2 of my 2021 review of drugs focused on how to improve the funding, commissioning, quality and accountability of drug prevention, treatment and recovery services in England.
The findings were disturbing, even shocking. Funding cuts have left treatment and recovery services on their knees. Commissioning has been fragmented, with little accountability for outcomes, and partnerships between local authorities, health, housing, employment support and criminal justice agencies have deteriorated. The workforce is depleted, especially of professionally-qualified people, and demoralised. Vital services have been cut back, particularly inpatient detoxification, residential rehabilitation, specialist services for young people, and treatment for cannabis and stimulant users.
Areas of the country with the highest rates of drug death, or the poorest treatment services, are the very areas where the need to ‘level up’ is greatest. Effective action is urgently needed to tackle the violent drugs market, alongside purposeful efforts to rebuild treatment services and recovery support, so that people can get the help they require.