The recent demise of DrugScope – the totemic membership organisation for drug treatment providers – has mostly passed without remark outside of the social care sector. But the news has wider implications, and should provoke pause for thought throughout local government and beyond.
DrugScope was a valuable organisation, representing providers from the smallest to the largest, and providing an evidence-based account of the moral, social and economic impacts of substance misuse. This was based on the experiences and expertise of service users and professionals, and DrugScope’s position as a coalition allowed it to put forward robust arguments that withstood scrutiny at local and national level, and made many crucial contributions to the development of Whitehall policies.
Substance misuse policy is, of course, a subject of passionate debate at all points on the political spectrum. While policy will always remain a highly charged issue, it is facts that should guide the commissioning of substance misuse not politicised opinion or ill-informed conjecture.
After all, local authorities have a statutory responsibility to their communities and those in need, and it is vital to remember that tackling substance misuse is not a simple case of changing the behaviour of individuals. Services for those affected by drug and alcohol misuse help to improve the health and circumstances of those in need, but also of the whole community – through tackling family and relationship issues, antisocial behaviour and criminal justice issues.
Evidence shows that money invested in tackling drug and alcohol misuse is repaid many times in its benefits to the community – it would be shocking for any local authority today to consider abolishing its drugs services. But, in times of austerity, the way to achieve the best return on the investment is a topic of real importance and urgency. Organisations working to tackle the effects of the misuse of drugs have a duty to use their funds in the most efficient way possible.
The very high number of local and national organisations working successfully across the country is enough evidence that there can be no one-size-fits-all answer to the question. But, this success would not be possible without the immense amount of effort that goes into collecting and sharing information in the industry. Drugscope performed a valuable service in collating and interpreting this evidence.
Edwin Richards, chair of DrugScope’s board of trustees, said that: “The focus going forward is on ensuring that the mission is carried on by other means.”
That mission takes different forms for different groups, but the one thing they should all agree on is the importance of making life better for individuals and communities. Without all the information available, however, the best way of doing that can only ever be a well-educated guess.
If DrugScope hadn’t existed, then the sector would have had to invent it, and the challenge now is to create something that fulfils its function. However it is accomplished, the industry must find a means of providing itself with the information it needs, of informing policymakers, and moving itself towards the emerging public health agenda and the wider remit for substance misuse services this entails.
A vacuum is dangerous for everyone – if the role of DrugScope is not fulfilled by other means, then those who will suffer are the service users and the communities they live in. Providers will simply not have the evidence base they require to develop effective, good-value services. That will be a blow for all of civil society, not just for social care.
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