Funding “secured” for cutting edge heroin programme

A cutting edge clinic where heroin addicts can self-administer drugs will be funded until Spring next year, according to a policing boss.

Middlesbrough’s Heroin Assisted Treatment programme has seen medical grade injections offered to “high risk” individuals in a bid to reduce their reliance on street drugs, save money on tackling crime, and prevent deaths.

Disagreement over cash for the scheme cropped up in the run up to May’s elections for Cleveland Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC).

New incumbent Steve Turner said he wouldn’t fund the project from the PCC budget – and money would be sought from grants elsewhere.

And the Conservative commissioner told Tuesday’s police and crime panel the programme would get funding from another source until March 2022.

Mr Turner said:

“I can confirm funding for the scheme has been sourced and there will be an announcement on that shortly.

“The current grant payment comes to an end on September 30 so that’s never been taken away.”

“We have secured funding from the end of September until March 2022.

“What happens after that will depend on a fuller assessment of the programme.”

The HAT programme treats addiction as an illness with participants visiting the Foundations facility, on Acklam Road, twice a day where prescribed diamorphine is administered under supervision.

The idea is they are then able to link up with various health, housing and welfare agencies at the clinic who provide support to help them return to mainstream society.

The cost of the scheme between October 2020 and September 2021 was £283,000.

It was extended for a year last August after “promising results” from an initial 12 month pilot.

In the past, Mr Turner has suggested the HAT scheme could be paid for in the future by the Government-funded Project Adder.

The separate £4.5m Middlesbrough project was announced in January – aiming to tackle drug misuse and the criminal gangs who profit from the illegal trade, while also offering support to recovering addicts.

In May, Mr Turner said:

“Project Adder is Government-funded, very much public-health based, and designed for programmes like the HAT scheme.

“Just because funding is not coming via this office, it does not mean there isn’t funding to look at elsewhere for these schemes.”

But independent panel member Luigi Salvati didn’t understand why new commissioner had opted to pull the plug on funding the scheme himself.

Mr Salvati added:

“It’s been a success, we can’t deny that.

“The issue is being palmed off to health professionals who may not have a budget for it.

“How can you move that away from an assisted programme which works?”

Overall crime rate doubts

Mr Turner said the HAT scheme was “contentious” and that he’d been elected on a manifesto which stated he’d look for alternative funding sources.

He then confirmed funding had been sourced before telling the panel about how he saw the scheme.

Mr Turner believed there was “no discernible evidence” to show overall crime statistics in Middlesbrough had come down since the scheme’s launch.

He said:

“The programme has been a success for the individuals involved – we make that quite clear in the report, and I’m not taking away from that.

“But we have secured additional funding which is exactly what I said I’d do in my campaign.

“There will be a more in depth study by Teesside University to see if it is cost effective and useful for that programme to go ahead in the future.”

The Conservative also told the panel he believed crime committed by those on the programme had “been replaced by other addicts”.

Meanwhile, Labour councillor Steve Nelson quizzed Mr Turner over the anecdotal reports of successes from the programme – and feared it “may be unrealistic” to contrast the crime statistic impacts with the whole borough of Middlesbrough.

Middlesbrough Mayor Andy Preston said everyone he’d spoken to had been enthusiastic about the HAT programme.

“I’d love to see it continue but I’d love to see some really detailed research on how effective it is or isn’t,” he added.

“Not at risk”

Mr Turner told the panel the future funding was being discussed with public health chiefs and the Project Adder board.

He added:

“It’s not different money from within the PCC office – it’s external money from other projects picking this up.”

There were 60 drug-related deaths in Middlesbrough between 2017 and 2019 – the second highest number in England during that period.

Debate about the fate of the HAT scheme and Project Adder also cropped up at the latest Middlesbrough health scrutiny panel.

South Tees public health chief Mark Adams said the programme had cut crime from the small number of people it had helped.

He added:

“Thinking about substance misuse as a health issue, it makes a lot of sense.

“We’ve met Steve Turner and he is supportive of us working through the Adder programme to continue the treatment.

“His view is that dealing with drug dealers is more important than a small number of people supported in this way.

“I think we can do both and we’ll get to a point where we support both through the Adder funding we’ve got.

“I’m working with Steve to support his agenda and he’ll work with us to support ours.”

Mr Adams also confirmed the programme was “not at risk” at the moment.