Poole Addictions Commu

Poole Addictions Community Team (PACT) is a multi-disciplinary team comprising doctors, social workers, nurses and a psychologist. The team is responsible for the assessment and treatment of adults who are dependent upon illicit drugs (such as heroin) or alcohol.

We work within the Government's 'models of care ' national service framework, providing a tier-3 specialist prescribing and care management service.

PACT aims to increase the number of drug and/or alcohol users in treatment and retain them in the service for a minimum of 12 weeks. This is a National Treatment Agency target for all specialist agencies.  We also work closely with other local service providers, both in the NHS and voluntary sector.  These provide community and residential services. Some examples of these are EDAS and SHARP   or the Sedman Unit day programme. We want to promote clear 'care pathways' (i.e. access to and progression through treatment), reduce the need for multiple or unnecessary assessments, and implement joint work practices.

PACT also provides and procures services to help people reduce the level of physical, social and psychological harm associated with substance misuse, and lessen the impact that this has upon families and more widely, the local community.

Some services, including community prescribing and psycho-social treatments, are provided directly by PACT. Other services, such as day care and residential rehabilitation, are purchased from the voluntary or independent sector.

The service promotes joint-working with colleagues in the criminal justice, children's and adult mental health specialisms.

Service User and Carer Forums have also been established by the Drug & Alcohol Action Team (DAAT).  Please click on the link for the results of the February 2009 Client Satisfaction Survery.

A list of services provided by the team is given below. If you would like to know more, please contact us:

e-mail:  The Integrated Service Manager
Telephone:  01202-633875
Fax:  01202-633857

You can also write to us at:  Poole Addictions Community Team, Borough of Poole, Civic Centre Annexe, Park Road, Poole. BH15 2RT

Services provided by PACT:

• Brief and comprehensive assessments.
  The primary objective of the brief assessment is to enable opiate using clients to access substitute prescribing as quickly as possible, subject to it being safe to do so. Comprehensive assessments will be completed on all new alcohol-using clients and within the first six weeks for drug using clients initiated on medication.
• Low threshold clinic.
  This is being piloted for 9 months from June 2008. The low threshold clinic has been introduced to provide a service to those clients who are being titrated on substitute medication or those established in treatment, who do not opt to see a key-worker for 'change-oriented' interventions. The expectation for low-threshold clients will be that they attend short, but frequent clinic appointments.
• Psycho-social treatments.
  It is widely recognised that medication plays a relatively modest part in treating substance misuse and changing how people live their lives. Once a person is medicated and stable, work can commence on changing behaviour(s) that will support abstinence from illicit drugs or alcohol. This is the focus of the key-working sessions at PACT. We are committed to providing effective and evidenced-based interventions that benefit clients and their carers most in their efforts to achieve positive change.
• Harm minimisation service.
  This has a separate entrance to the main PACT clinic. Clients can drop-in without an appointment and do not need to be in treatment with PACT in order to make use of the service. We provide a needle exchange and sterile equipment for injecting drug users, as well as harm reduction advice.
• GP Shared-care.
  This is intended for clients who are stable on substitute medication and having made some significant changes in their lives, can be seen less frequently by a specialist GP and shared-care nurse in separate premises across Poole.
• Hepatitis B immunisation.
  This is offered to all clients, especially those that have been or are at risk of contracting this blood-borne virus.
• Family support.
  PACT has two dedicated workers whose roles are to provide support to children and families of clients of the service. This includes assessing needs, providing practical and emotional help to children and families and parenting advice.
• Detoxification and/or residential rehabilitation.
  Medicated detoxification from alcohol or opiates will, in most cases, take place in a residential facility (e.g. locally, the Flaghead Unit or in some rehabilitation centres across the UK).  Our budget allowing, we also purchase lengthier periods of residential care from rehabilitation units across the region and beyond.
• Complimentary therapies.
  PACT provides auricular acupuncture each week and reiki, if requested. We can also refer clients to a yoga group locally.
• Supporting People floating support.
  Practical housing, financial and benefit help is available to PACT clients through the supporting people workers. The aim of this work is to support clients in tenancies or their own accommodation during treatment or provide help with finding somewhere to live.
• Arrest Referral and Prison Liaison work.
  The Arrest Referral Scheme is a service provided to people arrested and detained by the police. All arrestees are offered the opportunity to speak with a worker whilst detained in a police cell and asked if they want help with a substance misuse problem. If so, a referral for the full PACT service is taken.  Prison Liaison work is focused upon inmates in the prison estate (either on remand or serving a sentence), who are due for release and for whom a drug and/or alcohol problem has been identified. Some prisoners, prior to release, are being prescribed substitute medication that needs continuing after they return to the community. This is arranged by the prison liaison worker.
• Criminal justice work and liaison. (eg. Drug Rehabilitation Requirement)
  PACT has a small criminal justice team that assesses and provides treatment for those clients caught up in the criminal justice system. Liaison also takes place with the Probation Service in respect of those clients that are subject to relevant court orders. Criminal justice clients have the same access to PACT resources as those referred for other reasons.
• Referral to other treatment or support agencies.
  PACT can refer clients to other, non-prescribing services locally (e.g. EDAS, SHARP Progress Group, Stephen James Practice or Tom Smith for counselling). We also have a Clinical Psychologist who works with our clients at the PACT office.  Her work uses a cognitive-behavioural approach to resolving psychological and emotional problems linked to a client's addiction.
  

Useful addresses:

You may find the following addresses useful:

Drugscope
Drinksense
Alcoholics Anonymous  
National phone number: 08457 697555 Local phone number: 01202 296000 (Calls to both the above numbers cost only 10p and lines are manned 24 hours a day.)

Narcotics Anonymous
National phone number: 0207 730 0009 Local number: 07041 580050

Cocaine Anonymous
Helpline:  0207 284 1123

Poole DAAT has also published a booklet for residents of the Borough. This is called, "Your Poole Adult Treatment Journey: a guide to addiction services", which as the title suggests, is a valuable source of information on substance misuse treatment services in Poole and East Dorset. The latest edition is available from Poole DAAT, tel: 01202 633635 or email: a.maguire@poole.gov.uk.