Agenda item

PRESENTATION FROM BROMLEY CHANGES

A presentation will be given by David Dunkley from Bromley Changes.

 

Bromley Changes is Bromley’s young persons’ drug and alcohol service.   

Minutes:

A presentation was given by David Dunkley--Team Leader with ‘Bromley Changes’. Attending with Mr Dunkley was Mr Jermaine Martin.

 

Bromley Changes was the young persons’ drug and alcohol service for Bromley. The service was commissioned by LBB.

 

The service offered:

 

·  An experienced team of recovery workers in

  substance misuse

 

·  Assessment for specific support needs

 

·  One to one or group interventions

 

·  A wide range of approaches and interventions to help you reduce or stop your use of drugs or alcohol

 

·  Help and advice

 

Mr Dunkley outlined the various means by which referrals could be made to the service. Referrals were accepted from most professionals and from self-referrals.

 

The Group was briefed on the various methods used to engage with professionals and the public. Young people could be followed up in a variety of settings which ranged from home visits to meeting in public places like Starbucks. If a referral involved a year 7 or 8 pupil, then the parents would be informed. A pupil from year 9 onwards could self-refer.

 

A full, comprehensive and holistic assessment would be undertaken. Mr Dunkley had streamlined the referral process so that referrals to Bromley Changes could be made in a more direct and straight forward way. Young people would normally receive an appointment within 1-2 weeks.

 

Workshops had been undertaken in schools entitled, ‘Your Choice—Your Voice’. These had ended in March 2017 due to a cut in funding. It was hoped that these would be able to resume early in 2018 providing the schools were prepared to buy into the programme.

 

Mr Dunkley explained that the service was confidential. If however, it was felt that a serious danger of harm was likely to be caused either to the client or a third party, or there was a safeguarding concern regarding their level of substance mis-use, then information would be shared as required with relevant partners. This was also the case when working with service users who were subject to court orders at YOS; for example if there was an ongoing police investigation—then information would be shared. Mr Dunkley explained that the sharing of information in health and social care was guided by the Caldicott principles. These principles were reflected in the Data Protection Act. 

 

Victoria Roberts asked if any of the cases that Bromley Changes had looked at involved sexual violence. Mr Dunkley responded that this was not the case, but there were some instances where domestic violence had been involved. 

 

Deidre Bryant wondered how the service retained the interest of young people during the time frame leading up to the assessment. Mr Dunkley explained that Bromley Changes used texting, and various social media platforms such as Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. 

 

The presentation concluded with a summation of key partnerships. 

 

Sharon Baldwin asked what the main issues were for Bromley youth. The Group was informed that the main problem with girls tended to be alcohol and for boys it was cannabis. Some of the alcohol came from shops, and some from home. There was a concern that some shops were not following the rules by asking for ID. In certain schools there was an issue with young people inhaling nitrous oxide (laughing gas).

 

Mr Dunkley highlighted that increasing numbers of young people (especially A’ Level students) were buying Xanax over the internet.

 

Post Meeting Note: 

 

Xanax is a brand name for Alprazolam

 

Alprazolam is used to treat anxiety and panic disorders. It belongs to a class of medications called benzodiazepines which act on the brain and nerves (central nervous system) to produce a calming effect. It works by enhancing the effects of a certain natural chemical in the body (GABA).

 

It should only be used after being prescribed by a doctor.

 

Rob Vale stated that much proactive testing was taking place to prevent the sale of alcohol to young people, and he asked if Bromley Changes ever received intelligence concerning which premises were selling to young people who were under age. Mr Dunkley stated that some information/intelligence was occasionally relayed during drop in sessions which was currently being held at some secondary schools. 

 

It was noted that certain premises were selling to young local people that they were familiar with. There was concern around this because of the danger of unhealthy relationships being developed.

 

Terry Belcher asked what the success rate of the service was. Mr Dunkley responded that it depended what the young person wanted from the service and that this was discussed during the assessment stage when developing their recovery care plan. Sometimes the service users just wanted to have a low level intervention which included knowing more about the substances that they were misusing, along with harm reduction advice--to actually wanting a higher level of support in helping them to reduce their substance misuse or to abstain. 

 

Philip Powell stated that if the LAS (London Ambulance Service) encountered a young person that had been affected by an overdose of a substance, then there were safeguarding procedures that they would follow, a duty social worker would be informed, and a MASH Team would be involved. (MASH is an abbreviation for Multi Agency Safeguarding Hub). Ms Mumford queried if the data gathered from LAS could be put to good use. 

 

The Chairman asked if Bromley Changes needed anything from the SBP.

 

Mr Dunkley responded that Bromley Changes had been commissioned as a three tier service, but he felt that you should not have a tier three service without doing tier two work (tier two work was regarded as low level intervention such as working with young people who were not misusing substances but whose lives may be affected by their parents, carers or older siblings’ substance misuse) and that in order that the service could offer full support for the tier two work to take place, the local authority would need to ensure that when they renewed the contract and put it out for tender--they should include two tier work in addition to increasing funding.

 

Ms Roberts stated that she worked occasionally with the Bromley Drug and Alcohol Service, and so was keen to explore any cross over possibilities relating to referral processes.