No complacency over services

Published: 30 April, 2010

• I WAS disappointed to read your story (‘Don’t let dealers snare us,’ April 23) in which it was claimed that drug users would be “sucked back into a vicious cycle of addiction and crime” following the relocation of Westminster’s drug and alcohol support services.
Westminster supports more than 3,000 people annually through its 42 services and five treatment centres and is committed to continuing to providing first-class facilities to help those with substance misuse problems to recover and rebuild their lives.
Westminster’s Drug and Alcohol Action Team is one of the top performing teams in the country and our award-winning Drug Intervention Programme has been so successful that it has helped cut theft, burglary and robbery linked to drug use by more than 20 per cent in just four years.
Despite this success, we are not complacent.
As part of our commitment to tackling alcohol and substance misuse we recently carried out a comprehensive analysis of treatment needs in Westminster.
Over the coming months we will be refining our existing drug and alcohol treatment centres to deliver improved services out of four treatment centres in the city as well as a referral centre in Soho.
This reorganisation will enable us to continue to provide dedicated help, support and advice to drug and alcohol users and ensure we have a service fit to meet the challenges of the 21st century.
MARIAN HARRINGTON
Strategic Director of Adult and Community Services
Westminster City Council