West Kent Substance Misuse Service
An open letter to service users, carers families and
friends, from Lesley Andrews, Head of Service KDAAT.
Kent Drug and Alcohol Action Team (KDAAT) is pleased to announce
that the contract for the new West Kent Adult Substance Misuse
Service has been awarded to CRI.
CRI already deliver a range of services across the UK and deliver
the Drug Intervention Programme (DIP) across Kent and the Alcohol
Service in East Kent. CRI will take over responsibility for
providing an integrated substance misuse (drug and alcohol) service
across West Kent from 2nd April 2012.
Drug and alcohol services in West Kent were opened up for
competitive tender, or bidding following an extensive consultation
earlier in 2011 to ensure they meet the current and future needs of
people in West Kent with drug or alcohol problems. Services
evolve and change over time in order to keep providing high quality
care in line with good practice. This new contract is just
one part of that process.
We want to reassure you that anybody in need of advice, support or
treatment for drug and alcohol misuse will still have access to
services in the way that they have done until now. CRI will
have three main bases in West Kent in Maidstone, Gravesend and
Tonbridge but will also work from a number of other community
venues to make it easier for people to access the services.
We want to make sure that service users, carers and families are
kept up to date with information about the transfer of the existing
services to CRI over the next few months. CRI will work
closely with the existing providers (KCA, Kenward Trust, Turning
Point and Action for Change) so please speak to a member of staff
at your current service if you have any concerns.
You can also keep up to date with what is happening by coming along
to the KDAAT service user and carer expert group. For more
information about the group or about KDAAT, please contact Sally
Duncan, Service User, Carer and Workforce Development Officer on
01622 221676 or kdaat@kent.gov.uk