‘Someone has to say this isn’t working’

Sharon Brand of Recovery Dundee and independent researcher Dr Jennifer Jones speak to The Courier’s political editor Paul Malik

Q: What are the differences between describing someone in treatment and recovery?

Sharon Brand: Treatment has been sold as recovery, when it is not.

We distinguish between service-based recovery and the recovery community and I think, because there is such a blurred line between the two, people can’t distinguish getting better the best way they can. People are held in treatment for much longer than they should be, which means the person’s control over their recovery is taken away.

We hope the commission’s report can change that. There are deep rooted emotional issues which get people to the state of using drugs. You can’t address those issues when you are medicated with one of the strongest drugs available (methadone). It’s impossible. You’re so disconnected from yourself, there is no way you can reflect on what has led you to taking drugs.

Jennifer Jones: As we look at marginalised groups, if people are dehumanised there will be no will to recover. If you’ve been through a drug addiction, then decide you want off it, it takes strength, then you can go for help and be “parked” on medication.

They become tied to a script. Recovery is autonomy, it helps people become “human” again. Q: Third party groups are identified as being scared of talking out, over fear of losing funding. Is this fair? SB: The reason things have got so bad in the city is these organisations are scared of biting the hand that feeds them. JJ: It is a reflection of austerity, having everybody compete against each other for a smaller pocket of money and if you question the people funding your job, you run the risk of losing it.

Q: Constitution House is described as “not fit for purpose”. Can you describe why this is unhelpful for addicted people’s recovery?

SB: We went with one recovery member who needed to be seen. Because of a flood they could not find his records and he was asked to come back again, while going through drug withdrawal. We live in a digital world. Not having his records available is bad. Users also struggle to get past the front desk.

JJ: Dundee prides itself as a centre of service design but that seems to depend on what side of the city you are on.

SB: The ISMS service on Constitution Road has stood alone for many years and a lot of the issues have arisen because of that. Hopefully, this report can change that, but (drug abuse) is a problem which seems to only be treated medically and until you change that approach I doubt much else will change.

Q: One of the recommendations alludes to “learning the lessons of the past”. Surely that should be a given?

SB: To be fair, they have not yet used the experiences of the past to change things up, so I think that is part of the reason why that has been included. It’s common sense really.

JJ: It is a cliché but at least if it is put down, then it is made explicit so something can be done and it can be acknowledged.

Q: The ISMS has been identified as a service which has not asked for help? Is this reflected by user experience of the centre?

SB: Up until recently the centre was saying “everything was going great”. The reality though, is different.

It has been almost unaccountable. Any complaint we have made to Constitution House we have had a response back from NHS Tayside saying things have changed but it never did.

My opinion on the drug service hasn’t changed because of the commission and until things change drastically, it won’t.

There is no consistency. I interact with the service multiple times a week and people are put at risk because of how it operates. I’m not saying people haven’t tried to change it but the culture and the way it works stops change.

Nobody gets up in the morning to do a bad job but if you’re working on a remit that isn’t working and people are dying because of it, it needs to change. If no one takes responsibility, then how can the recommendation to “learn from the past” be taken on? Someone has to say “this isn’t working”. The people who should have taken responsibility resigned before the report was complete.

Q: How much more could the commission have learned if it had taken time to cover what was left out?

SB: Those aspects which were not covered due to time (like the use of drugs in coping with historic abuse) are essential. As someone who suffered historic sexual abuse, that issue was not addressed while I was going through treatment. It was a missed opportunity.

In an ideal world the commission would continue. In a year we should reflect on what was highlighted and work done to see if the recommendations have been applied. What’s relevant now is not

going to be relevant in five to 10 years’ time. It’s a fluid process.

JJ: In my experience, some of the things which have been missed are the root causes of drug addiction. I got to the conclusions of the report and could not believe it was not put at the very beginning. Addiction and drug use affects every family in Scotland and it should be talked about. But we don’t and if we did, we could get to the root causes of trauma in Scotland which is causing the addiction issues.

Q: The commission notes its support for Safe Injecting Rooms, are they worth it?

SB: I am not an advocate for safe injecting rooms. The money they would use on the rooms could be used for the services which already exist and tailor them to make them better. I know they have worked in other countries, but you would need to overhaul the entire UK system and we know that just won’t happen.

JJ: They are a big discussion point in the media and have been dubbed “radical”, but if we put more money into these rooms and not elsewhere, the other services suffer.

SB: The Recovery café, for example, is a normal space where everyone can go. It doesn’t have a sign and doesn’t say only users come here. You are back in society and you are seen as a person, not a user. The safe injection rooms would cost, roughly, £12,000 a day, whereas a recovery group like ours works on £5,000 a year. I think it is serious to look at these places which could be used to “make money”. For them to work properly, you would need at least two.

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Addiction and drug use affects every family in Scotland and it should be talked about. But we don’t and if we did, we could get to the root causes of trauma in Scotland. DR JENNIFER JONES