Kamal Patel (Consultant, Public Health) delivered the Plymouth Drugs Strategy Partnership Annual Report 2024 to the Board, and discussed:

a)    Common risk factors and lived experiences of those engaging with drug and alcohol services;

b)    The role of the national drugs strategy ‘From Harm to Hope’;

c)    Funding and programme delivery through the Plymouth Complex Lives Alliance;

d)    The interconnected benefits and cost efficiency of drug and alcohol services for homelessness, employment, crime, drug supply, antisocial behaviour, equalities, and other factors;

e)      Unique drug use patterns and demographics for Plymouth;

f)     A significant increase in the demand for these services during 2023;

g)    Drug related deaths and national comparators;

h)    Workforce training and recruitment, including the introduction of the Rapid Access to Prescribing Team and Overdose Response Team;

i)     The optimisation of Opiate substitution doses;

j)     Increased capacity enabled through grant funding, which was now expected to remain stable following three yearly incremental increases;

k)    The development of the Local Drug Information System to facilitate reporting and intelligence dissemination of contaminated / dangerously higher potency drug batches;

l)     The establishment of a partnership with Bath University to rapidly test drug samples;

m)  The improvement of Naloxone distribution around the city, which was vital in the event of drug overdoses;

n)    The development of the ‘Avoidable Deaths Approach’ to facilitate learning and improvements from drug and alcohol related deaths;

o)    Improvements to the referral process for drug and alcohol services.

In response to questions, the Board discussed:

p)    Links between city-wide work to reduce inequalities, the ‘trauma informed approach’, mental health support, early support and intervention, and prevention of drug use;

q)    Generational drug use and Plymouth’s demographics;

r)    Grant funding for Drug and Alcohol services, and risks regarding long-term sustainability;

The Board agreed to note the report.