East Yorkshire Addictions Service Work Nominated for National Award

The East Riding Partnership (ERP) Addictions Service, a service provided by Humber Teaching NHS Foundation Trust, have been shortlisted for a national award for their work with eastern European nationals requiring opioid substitution treatment during the Covid-19 pandemic.

The HSJ Patient Safety Awards recognise and reward the hard-working teams and individuals who are striving to deliver improved patient care. The team have been shortlisted for the ‘Improving Health Outcomes for Minority Ethnic Communities Award’ in partnership with the General Medical Council. This award recognises organisations that have taken a more concerted and systematic approach to tackle complex racial disparities in order to ensure the safety of Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic communities and address unwarranted variation in their care.

During the pandemic, changes to people’s economic situation, due to the closure of workplaces and the supply of illicit drug availability reducing, led to the Addictions Service seeing more patients coming forward to request support and treatment.

When speaking with predominantly young men, they explained that they had arrived in the UK to work, but due to limited opportunities during the pandemic, many had found themselves in poverty, often having to rely on sofa surfing or multi-occupation housing to avoid homelessness. It was during this time that they explained they had turned to substance abuse.

The team reacted to this information at pace, developing new ways of working to successfully treat patients, many of whom were not native English speakers and required longer appointment times and accessible information to allow them to fully understand and engage with the treatment being offered to them.

By the second week of treatment, most patients were drug and crime-free and the team were able to signpost patients to organisations that could help them get back into paid employment.  

Michele Moran, Chief Executive said:

“I am delighted that the hard work and innovation of this team has been recognised with this nomination.  I wish them the best of luck at the awards ceremony.”

Andy Partington, Service Manager said:

“I am proud of the East Riding Partnership team, how quickly they identified this population and embraced working in new and unfamiliar ways. They have gone over and above to provide a quality service, using innovate ways to ensure that these individuals do not fall through the net and ensuring that we are working collaboratively with other services to provide support and care.”

The awards ceremony will take place on 15^th September 2022 at Manchester Central.