The meeting of the Cabinet Member Signing will include consideration of whether to extend contracts for drug and alcohol treatment services in Haringey.

Integrated Substance Misuse Services

The Cabinet Member for Health, Social Care and Wellbeing will be asked to approve a two-year extension to contracts for the provision of Integrated Adult Substance Misuse Treatment and Recovery Services in Haringey.¹

Three lots will be considered for extension:

• Lot 1 Specialist Drug Treatment Service, provided by Barnet Enfield and Haringey Mental Health Trust.
• Lot 2 Specialist Alcohol Treatment Service, delivered by Humankind Charity.
• Lot 3 Drug and Alcohol Recovery Service, also delivered by Humankind Charity.

The report prepared for the meeting states that The contracts were awarded for four years, with an option to extend for two further periods of 2 years (total 8 years). These contracts have reached year 6, they can therefore within the terms of the original contract be extended for a further period of 2 years.

The report goes on to claim that The grant funding for these contracts is available, local need remains high, and the contracts are performing well for our residents. It also states that retendering the contracts would risk incurring significant inflationary costs related to staffing.

The document also describes a number of aspects of the services being provided under the contracts. In particular, it notes that:

• Haringey has an ongoing need for substance misuse treatment services.
• It remains the responsibility of the Public Health directorate within the Council to ensure that effective services are commissioned to address the treatment needs of residents with substance misuse issues.
• [The three services] are supported by a peer led service called Bringing Unity Back into the Community (BUBIC).
• All substance misuse services are funded from the Council’s Public Health Grant.
• The Grove drug service has seen an increase in opiate users coming into treatment.
• The HAGA service had a highly successful Care Quality Commission (CQC) inspection in 2023 which rated the service as GOOD and the areas of responsive and well led were rated as OUTSTANDING.
• Recovery from addiction is more than just clinical treatment and so Haringey Recovery Service (HRS) plays an important part in relapse prevention and social reintegration.
• Seventy-two percent of those accessing treatment are men, this is reflective of addiction being more prevalent in men. Because treatment can seem a very male environment attention is given to ensure women can access the services.
• Little is known about population levels of addiction for those with other protective characteristics, but we should expect that treatment services are reflective of Haringey’s general population.
• 9% of current new presentation identify as not heterosexual.