Future PANN meetings

PANN is our forum for practitioners working in the field of primary care drug treatment. GPs, patients, shared care workers, commissioners, pharmacists and key workers are all invited to attend.




You will be pleased to know that the dates of the meetings for 2010 have been set for the afternoons of:





Wednesday March 17th 2010


Tuesday July 6th 2010


Thursday November 11th 2010


As usual these will be at the Royal College of General Practitioners, 14 Princes Gate, Hyde Park,
London, SW7 1PU. If you know of anyone who has done either part 1 or part 2 of the Certificate, (or works with substance misusers in primary care,) and may benefit from being part of this network, please let me know their name and address, or e-mail address, so I can write to them. Newcomers are always welcome!


If you have any ideas or suggestions for future meetings, please let me know.

Falling purity 'accelerates trend' in polydrug use

A downward trend in the quality of illegal drugs on the UKs street drug market could be driving changes in patterns of drug use, with users increasingly interchanging or combining a range of low quality drugs, according to DrugScope s 2009 Street Drug Trends Survey.

This year s findings show a fall in the reported quality of illegal drugs available in most areas over the last year. Seventeen out of twenty areas reported a drop in the quality of powder and crack cocaine, echoing a growing body of evidence showing declining cocaine purities. In one area, police reported seizing cocaine powder with purity levels as low as 2%.

The survey found that the drop in the quality of drugs could be accelerating a longer term trend towards poly drug use taking a variety of different substances in combination or at different times as users look to top up on low quality drugs or experiment with alternatives.

The 2009 survey also recorded national averages for the prices of individual street drugs. Most heroin was being sold by the bag and most crack cocaine was being sold by the rock. In 2009, the average bag of heroin weighed 0.15g and the average cost was £10. The average
rock of crack cocaine weighed 0.15g and the average cost was £10. There was no significant change from the 2006, 2007 and 2008 figures.

For more details, look on the Drugscope website:

http://www.drugscope.org.uk/ourwork/pressoffice/pressreleases/Street_drug_trends_2009.htm

Route Maps to Recovery

Monday 18th January 2010
10am - 5.30pm
RSA, 8 John Adam Street, London, WC2N 6EZ

The RSA's User Centred Drug Services Project is setting out an ambitious model for delivering personalised support. They are inviting experts by experience and experts by profession to a Design Symposium to help shape their user-centred approach. The symposium will be on 18 January at RSA House in central London and is a unique opportunity to help shape future drug and alcohol services.

From in depth primary research, more than 150 drug and alcohol users have told us what they want from a comprehensive service, when they need it and how it should be delivered. They have described what would make them engage more, what would help prevent relapse, who they would want to speak with, how their families and friends might be involved, where they would want to go, who they would want to go with, what barriers exist, what the opportunities are, what is missing and what will help them to stay on the road to recovery.

Using this information they want help to design the operating system that could support this and to develop a broad, non-exhaustive menu of new service ideas and support add-ons for delivering personalised, expansive and joined up services that will deliver to user needs and aspirations. They then hope to put their ideas into practice.

Join the discussion and book a place at:

http://rsaroutemapstorecovery.ning.com/
http://routemapstorecovery.eventbrite.com/

Or contact Rebecca Daddow on 020 7451 6833.

Call for papers, posters and films

The 15th National RCGP Conference 'Integrating Practice and Policy: Everyone’s Business' is inviting posters, papers, film and other media on any aspect of working with drug and alcohol
users in primary care for submission. The conference is Thursday 22 and Friday 23 April 2010 at the SECC in Glasgow.
Papers and posters can include a brief description of your service and how it was developed, how you overcame a local problem and/or improved practice, or research and audit that you have
carried out. We are interested in submissions of any film/other media that you have produced, including educational and training materials.

Your submission should consist of:
A summary of the issues you plan to address (250 words).
Name(s), job title(s) and organisation(s) of all presenters.
Main contact person’s name, job title, organisation, postal address, telephone and fax numbers, and email address.

Submissions should be sent no later than 19 February 2010 to:

Matt Davenport,Conference Manager
Healthcare Events Limited
2 Acre Road, Kingston, Surrey KT2 6EF
By fax: 020 8547 2300
By email: matt@healthcare-events.co.uk

Winning submissions in each category (papers, posters and film/other media) will be awarded a free delegate place (worth up to £500) at the 16th National Conference in 2011!

What to do with Over the Counter Addiction?

A day to discuss OTC addiction:
• What is the size of the problem?
• What is the evidence?
• What are the best treatments?
• What does the updated Clinical Guidelines say?
• How do we best manage OTC addiction in general practice?

Date: Thursday 21 January 2010
Venue: York Hotel, York
Cost: Past and current certificate candidates £130.00, all other delegates £150.00
For further information or to reserve a place, please contact: Jo Betterton 020 7173 6095
E-mail: jbetterton@rcgp.org.uk

Part One Clinical Lead Needed

The Royal College of General Practitioners Substance Misuse Unit supports continuing professional development of primary care practitioners and has developed a two part national training and development programme at Certificate level. This multi-disciplinary course if aimed at primary care health providers wishing to develop their skills and expertise from generalist through to Intermediate level.

The Substance Misuse Unit now seeks to recruit a Clinical Lead for the Part One of the Certificate Programme for a contracted piece of work. The Part One consists of two e-learning modules and one face to face training day. This person will provide the clinical input to the programme and review and maintain the content and ensure that it remains fit for purpose.

Dynamic, forward-thinking GPs with experience in the field of Substance Misuse who are able to commit energy and innovation are required by the College to direct, influence and contribute to the ongoing development of the Part One. In addition this person will work with the Executive Committee and National Expert Advisory Group to ensure that the whole training programme responds to meets the changing needs of health care professionals. Leadership, communication and liaison skills are vital and an understanding of the wider political context of the substance misuse and governance fields is also essential

You will be accountable to the Director of the Substance Misuse Unit and supported by a full time Coordinator (Based in London) In addition you will be expected to attend quarterly Executive Committee Meetings and the annual RCGP SMU Clinical Leads Away day.

In view of the responsibilities involved an annual consultancy fee of £10,000 is payable. The position will be offered for one year in the first instance though further funding is being sought to extend this.

This is open to job share applicants

Applications
Please submit a CV along with a personal statement which outlines:
What skills you would bring to this post
What you see as the important areas of work for this position

TO : Jo Betterton, RCGP Project Manager, RCGP Substance Misuse Unit
32 – 38 Leman Street, London, London E1 8EW
jbetterton@rcgp.org.

Closing Date: Friday 13th November 2009
Interview date : Thursday 10th December 2009

Previous PANN meetings

The PANN pages on the RCGP website have now been updated and the recent meetings have been added.

‘Why are drugs in London different?’ held on 11th November 2008.

'The elephant in the room' - screening for alcohol misuse and brief interventions for alcohol misusers - held on 14th July 2009.

To access them use this link: http://www.rcgp.org.uk/practising_as_a_gp/substance_misuse/pann/recent_meetings.aspx

If you wish to access the achieved summaries of previous meetings, please contact me.

My thanks to the RCGP.