DS Daily - 15th June 2012 |
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Providing drug and alcohol recovery through payment by results – deputy director presentations
The Department of Health, Home Office, Ministry of Justice and Dedpartment for Work and Pensions hosted an event on the 21st for providers who were interested in finding out more about payment by results (PbR) for drug recovery services and there were presentations from Deputy Directors at DH, Home Office, MoJ and DWP which are now available | Department of Health, UK
Heroin prescribing revamped and reassessed
Latest Effectiveness Bank bulletin highlights trials of the prescribing of heroin in the treatment of heroin addiction, a role reversal from problem to solution which in Britain has retreated from the mainstream response to a niche option for a few hundred patients | Drug and Alcohol Findings, UK
Eden Festival 'pink ecstasy' warning
Police have issued a warning about a potentially fatal drug dubbed "pink ecstasy" ahead of a music festival in southern Scotland | BBC, UK
Scottish Take Home Naloxone
A short video showing the first phase of changes to the Scottish Take Home Naloxone (THN) pre-filled syringe pack is now available on our website | Scottish Drugs Forum, UK
Suffolk: More babies being born with addictions
A report into safeguarding children revealed nine cases in the last year of newborns suffering from neonatal abstinence syndrome, or withdrawal, compared to four cases during the previous year | EADT24, UK
Bristol City Council seeks views on £12.5m drugs strategy
Views are being sought by Bristol City Council on plans to commission £12.5m of drugs services for the next year | BBC, UK
Consultation on alcohol-related hospital admissions data
Consultation on the methods used to estimate alcohol-related hospital admissions for England has been opened by the North West Public Health Observatory | Alcohol Policy UK
MP Sarah Wollaston concerned children exploit alcohol loophole
Claims children are exploiting inadequate age-checks to buy alcohol online are to be taken up with the Home Office by a Devon MP | BBC, UK
Alcohol use disorders and the course of depressive and anxiety disorders
Alcohol dependence, especially severe current dependence, is a risk factor for an unfavourable course of depressive and/or anxiety disorders, whereas alcohol abuse is not | British Journal of Psychaitry
Louth coach drivers perform own breath tests
The family firm has become the first in Ireland to introduce breathalysers on all it's vehicles. The process is simple: in order to get the coach to start, the driver has to blow into a breathalyser connected to the ignition | BBC, UK
Checked out
The role of ID checks in controlling under-age drinking from the Centre for Research in Sustainable Leadership via | ISSUU, UK
Graphic warning labels on cigarette packs 'work better'
Images of patients on ventilators on cigarette packets help smokers heed the health warnings about smoking, says US research | BBC, UK
Healthy Lives, Healthy People
Update on Public Health Funding. Download | Department of Health, UK
Public health: Surrey takes first steps on road to responsibility
Councillors have brought 65 NHS staff into the town hall to manage public health | Guardian, UK
Working locally: micro-enterprises and building community assets
This paper examines the lessons NHS decision makers could learn from micro-scale approaches in social care, and the place of micro-enterprise development within an integrated health, care and support system | NHS Confederation, UK
With money in mind: the benefits of liaison psychiatry
This briefing outlines the benefits that the Birmingham RAID liaison psychiatry service has brought in terms of cost savings and improved health and well-being for patients. Download | NHS Confederation, UK
Statutory Homelessness: January to March 2012 and 2011/12, England
The Department's Statistics Plan 2011/12 sets out the Department's intention to reduce the detail of the statutory homelessness quarterly releases to include only the most high profile and volatile data, with a more detailed publication at year end. Download statistics | Communities and Local Government, UK
Grant Shapps: Funding boost for strong homelessness safety net
Advice and support services for frontline staff helping families facing the real and frightening prospect of homelessness are to receive a cash boost from Government, strengthening one of the world's strongest safety nets against homelessness, Housing Minister Grant Shapps announced | Communities and Local Government, UK
Households Below Average Income (HBAI)
The latest national statistics on Households Below Average Income (HBAI) produced by the Department for Work and Pensions were released on 14 June 2012. Download | DWP, UK
Child poverty down as household income drops
The number of children living in poverty in the UK fell by 300,000 last year as household incomes dropped, official figures have revealed | BBC, UK
So, Iain Duncan Smith has a simple solution to child poverty
Any child living in a household which earns less than 60 per cent of the typical income is defined as living in poverty. This is likely to be changed so that children living in workless households or those with drug-dependent parents are highlighted | Guardian, UK
More than 20 doctors brought before watchdog over drink and drug use
The committee was set up to try to help and monitor doctors with health problems, rather than sending them directly to a disciplinary inquiry | Independent, Ireland
€350k of head shop drugs point to ‘lucrative trade’
Drug experts have said the seizure of 10kg of head shop drugs indicates a "lucrative trade" of the former legal highs on the black market | Irish Examiner
Alcohol consumption responsible in almost half of poisoning deaths
Alcohol poisoning accounted for almost half of poisoning deaths in the counties of Cavan, Louth, Meath and Monaghan between 2005 and 2009 | Medical Independent, Ireland
Denmark Legalizes Consumption Rooms
The Danish parliament has voted in favour of legalizing the operation of supervised consumption rooms | Drug Reporter, Hungary
Pure ecstasy can be ‘safe’ if consumed responsibly: B.C. health officer
Dr. Perry Kendall asserts the risks of MDMA – the pure substance originally synonymous with ecstasy – are overblown, and that its lethal dangers only arise when the man-made chemical is polluted by money-hungry gangs who cook it up | Globe and Mail, Canada
Jesse Kline: Legalizing ecstasy would save lives
Instead of imposing harsher restrictions on the substance, as the federal Tories have done, governments should think about the words of Dr. Kendall and look at ways to reduce harm by allowing the drug to be produced and sold in a safe, regulated environment | National Post, Canada
Pharmacologic Guideline
Pharmacologic Guidelines for Treating Individuals with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder and Co-Occurring Opioid Use Disorders | SAMHSA, USA
Pharmacological Agents
General Principles for the Use of Pharmacological Agents to Treat Individuals with Co-Occurring Mental and Substance Use Disorders | SAMHSA, USA
De-stigmatizing Mental Illness Is a Critical Step in New Focus on Treatment vs. Punishment for Addiction
With the White House announcing a new focus on treating addiction as a disease rather than a moral failing, those of us who have dedicated our lives to addiction treatment are once again hopeful that this will result in a shift in attitude about treatment versus punishment | Huffington Post, USA
Top cop who took down Colombia’s cocaine cartels agrees to advise Mexico on drug war
Candidate Enrique Pena Nieto announced Thursday night that he will appoint retired Gen. Oscar Naranjo as an adviser, calling Colombia an example of success in drug war strategy | Washington Post, USA
Leaked TPPA documents and the limp Alcohol Reform Bill
Can Hon Tim Groser, Minister of Trade, reassure us all that the Trans Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPPA) will not prevent the government enacting effective new alcohol laws to combat the heavy drinking culture in New Zealand, involving price, marketing, accessibility and drink-driving? | Scoop, New Zealand
Heroin trade entrenched in Afghanistan
The war in Afghanistan has turned the country into a major supplier of the world's opium and heroin supplies | Radio Australia