"Constant change in order to survive" is the challenge facing the residential rehabilitation sector as it shapes up to a new treatment and recovery landscape, said Brian Dudley, CEO of Broadway Lodge in Somerset.
He was among the speakers contributing to the first of a series of national networking events for residential providers and drug treatment commissioners, hosted by the National Treatment Agency in Bristol on 21 March.
Urging residential providers to speak up about the unique services they offer, Brian said the sector had become better at communicating, especially in the interests of choice. Rebalancing the treatment system was about ensuring rehabs offered individuals what they want and then doing it well – "the best treatment and the best outlook," he said.
Representatives of more than 40 providers attended the Shaping Recovery conference, one of three events this month designed to raise the profile of the residential sector in the light of the emphasis on recovery in the government's Drug Strategy.
Richard Johnson, CEO of ANA in Hampshire, encouraged residential providers to "engage with funders, government agencies and the NTA " He stressed the importance of listening to care managers, commissioners and referring agencies; and not only responding to their requirements but also providing more flexible services to meet the needs of those service users accessing residential treatment.
Richard also highlighted a number of innovative ideas for partnership working with other residential providers to better meet the needs of service users.
John Jotcham, CEO of St James' Priory, a rehab in the heart of Bristol city centre, explained how it was vital to maintain strong links with the local community and other community-based treatment services. This enabled people to move through the treatment system with ready access to their local GP, hospitals and community detox facilities.
John also emphasised the importance of pre-rehab preparation and planning, a point taken up by Kim Hager, Commissioning Manager for Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly. Her presentation on an effective local commissioning system described how the partnership made a business case for more residential treatment based on outcomes data, and built additional care and support services around each residential place.
Tom Kirkwood and Simon Bowen of Trust The Process stressed the importance of client choice and the need for treatment providers to adapt their practices to meet the needs of service users, not the other way round.
They highlighted the value of offering a variety of services, including detox, community and residential rehab, recovery housing and family support services, in order to allow service users to move through treatment and sustain their recovery gains long-term. Tom said the forthcoming Payment by Results pilots would give providers the power to influence treatment outcomes and be more recovery-focused.
Bill Puddicombe, interim Chief Executive of eATA, joined providers for a question and answer session in which equipping the workforce to become more recovery-focused was a recurring theme.
Richard Johnson described the benefits of the International Treatment Effectiveness Project and similar talking therapy tools that enable staff to work more effectively with clients in order to raise their ambitions and expectations of treatment.
Rosanna O'Connor, the NTA's Director of Delivery, said "the wealth of an organisation is vested in its workforce", and pointed to the valuable role the Substance Misuse Skills Consortium could play in driving up the ambitions of drug workers for their clients.
The conference included a trade fair where providers were able to showcase their products to commissioners and each other. As one speaker noted, "If providers know what commissioners want and commissioners know what services are available, the client is more likely to get what they need."
All participants recognised that providers would need to do more in the future to market themselves, and to make sure that both commissioners and service users knew the full range of options available. In particular, providers acknowledged that contributing to the commissioning process, and highlighting services relevant to local needs assessment, was a valuable and viable way of maintaining their competitiveness.
The NTA will host further "Shaping Recovery" events in York on 28 March and London on 29 March. The views of participants will be incorporated into Building Recovery in Communities, the consultation on a new recovery-oriented framework for drug treatment that closes on 4 May.