Drugs scheme is international model (From Warrington Guardian)

Delegates travel from Sweden to learn about addiction therapy in Warrington

8:00am Monday 14th May 2012 in News

A WARRINGTON drugs programme which is leading the way in tackling addiction has drawn international interest.

Swedish doctors and nurses visited the Recovery Hub, on Museum Street, to learn more about the work the centre does to help people turn their lives around.

Cathy Fitzgerald, drug and alcohol team service manager, said: “I think it’s very exciting that we have people from Sweden coming to see Warrington’s drugs services because we have one of the leading facilities in the country and it’s really good they have come to learn from us.”

The service is run by national health and social care charity Crime Reduction Initiatives (CRI) and aims to reduce the harm caused by drugs and help people live independently and play a part in the community.

Carl Roberts, services manager for CRI, said: “Warrington is one of the leading lights, not only in the north west but also nationally.

“The visit was arranged for our Swedish colleagues to come over here and find out a little bit about what we are doing.”

Recovery is helped by tackling the client’s drug use along with their health and psychological needs.

The unit also addresses crime, housing and family relationships and helps around 700 people get their lives back on track each year.

Carl added: “They came to see the way we use medicine in addition to the whole treatment plan, not the treatment of medication itself.

“Their system is very medically dependant but we strike a balance between medication and other factors.

“We try to promote responsibility on users for their own recovery.”

The visitors, who came to the UK on a two-day fact-finding mission, were impressed with what they saw.

“It’s been very positive feedback, I think some of them have been quite inspired by what we had to say,” said Carl.

“Some of the ideas they will be able to introduce in Sweden.”

Delegate Anna Hultgren added: “It’s really interesting seeing recovery as it is new to us in Sweden. We are five years behind.

“We still use a lot of medication.”