'DON'T LET DEALERS SNARE US' - Recovering drug addicts’ warning over planned closure of pioneering Caravan Project treatment clinic at St Mary's Hospital
Published: 23 April 2010
by JAMIE WELHAM
RECOVERING drug users have warned they will be sucked back into a vicious cycle of addiction and crime if a specialist treatment clinic is axed.
The council is determined to bring all its north Westminster drug support services under one roof in a super-size clinic in Harrow Road. It would mean shutting the pioneering Caravan Project in St Mary’s Hospital, Paddington, and transferring addicts to an area they describe as a “massive drugs market”.
Former users at the clinic have launched a campaign claiming “cunning” dealers will target them near the new centre. They have told the West End Extra they would rather give up treatment altogether than “run the gauntlet” of the Harrow Road.
Campaign spokesman Steven Luben, who has been battling heroin addiction for 20 years, said: “Harrow Road is basically a massive drug market place, everyone knows that, but what they don’t know is just how cunning dealers are. I could sit outside the Prince of Wales pub (at the Prince of Wales Junction) and would probably be offered to score 10 times in an hour.
“They lurk outside drop-ins and rehab centres and deliberately target you because they see you as a customer, and they know it’s hard for an ex-addict to say no.”
He added: “Going to Harrow Road would be a massive danger. The Caravan is quiet and away from the street and people feel safe here. A lot of people will be back on hard drugs if this goes ahead.”
The Caravan Project is run by the Central and North West London NHS Trust with the council’s drugs and alcohol services.
It offers a needle exchange, referrals, drop-in sessions, psychiatric support and therapies, as well as a visiting lawyer on hand to help out with housing and welfare advice.
Council officials have refused to rule out redundancies under the reorganisation but insist an expanded Westminster Drugs Project (WDP) in Harrow Road would significantly improve success rates at weaning users off drugs.
The majority of people who use the Caravan are there voluntarily, but at the WDP, many are compelled to go because of Drug Treatment Orders handed out in criminal courts.
Harrow Road Labour ward councillor Guthrie McKie said: “This is a detrimental step in the provision of support and care for people seeking recovery from drug and alcohol abuse.
“People in this situation need certainty and clear patterns in their lives. Closure of the project would have a devastating effect on the lives of vulnerable people. I urge the council and the NHS to look at ways in which this project can continue”.
Marian Harrington, the council’s strategic director of adults services, said: “The reorganisation of our services to a new integrated system of care will ensure residents receive quicker and more effective treatment to help them recover and rebuild their lives.
“We acknowledge that change can be challenging, particularly with vulnerable residents, and so we have consulted extensively over the proposed reorganisation and we will meet again with service users to help address any concerns they may have.”