Hello there, a brief update from my world as an Addiction Psychiatrist.

There have been big changes to how NHS services are providing support to people with alcohol and drug problems in Bristol over the last year. We are now providing services as part of ROADS (Recovery Orientated Alcohol and Drugs Service). This is a partnership between organisations in Bristol and aims to provide a seamless service so that when a person contacts ROADS they should not notice that the element of support they need can be provided by one of 5 different organisations. The aim being that all providers focus on the care provided rather than being passed between different organisations.

One of the big aims for ROADS was to improving the numbers of people receiving treatment for alcohol problems. Alcohol is the substance that causes the most harm in the UK but it has not had equivalent resources as traditional services focused on illicit drug treatment. There is no distinction between alcohol and drug services now in terms of funding and where people are seen. This is particularly important for young people as many more young people die or come to harm as a result of alcohol problems than for all other substances put together. We have seen a massive increase in the numbers of people referred for alcohol problems, in fact this has been such a success we are struggling to meet the extra demand which has exceeded our expectations.

We are still closely monitoring changes in patterns of substance use locally and nationally. An important area is Novel Psychoactive Substances (NPS), sometimes called ‘club drugs’ or ‘legal highs’. Although these substances are often less harmful than alcohol or other more traditional drugs, there are new substances emerging to exploit legal loop-holes which are often more harmful that substances that have just been made illegal. Also we are seeing problems as drugs are not being sold correctly. For example we have several people running into problems, and some deaths nationally, with substances sold as MDMA/ecstasy which in fact contain other more harmful substances such as PMA or PMMA. This is particularly a problem as people take a substance they think is MDMA but think it’s week so take more and then overdose on these more harmful substances.

Best wishes for Christmas and the New Year, stay safe, and be respectful of any substances that you put into your body,

Dr Tim