Closure of Albyn Shelter

Want to share this with everyone that had signed the petition to keep Albyn Shelter open, it now looks like it will close it's doors for the last time on the 15th April when the contract runs out. This was forwarded to myself from Callum McCaig MSP. I would like to thank everyone of you who signed the petition but sadly it has been deemed by the powers that it has no use in the city, once again thank you for your support. ADP BRIEFING REGARDING MANAGEMENT OF DRUNK & INCAPABLE PEOPLE IN ABERDEEN CITY Police Scotland and NHS Grampian, who are both key members of the Aberdeen City Alcohol & Drugs Partnership (ADP), currently commission Alcohol Support Ltd (ASL) to provide the Designated Place of Safety (DP) for people who are found Drunk & Incapable (D&I) in Aberdeen City. The DP costs £356k per year: (Police Scotland - £194K; NHS Grampian - £162K). Analysis of the service indicates the average episode to be 7.5 hours and the unit cost to be £500 per person. The majority of those individuals who attend the DP do so as a result of a single episode of public intoxication. For the minority where there are complex underlying problems it is felt that more can be done to halt the “revolving door” of frequent attendances. The ADP partners, including NHS Grampian, Police Scotland, Aberdeen City Council, and the Aberdeen Council of Voluntary Organisations (ACVO), made a joint decision in Oct 2014 that a DP does not represent value to the public as the cost is unsustainable and does little to prevent re-occurrence of public drunkenness. The ADP has agreed that there are alternative, better integrated and more cost effective ways of dealing with the problem. Other areas of Scotland also have to deal with the impact of public drunkenness, and they manage this through operating effective protocols amongst key agencies, such as: Police Scotland, Scottish Ambulance Service, NHS and the Third Sector. The outcome of this decision is that the ADP will not go to competitive procurement for the future provision of a DP. The current contract with Alcohol Support Ltd (ASL) will end on 15th April 2016. There are many views expressed but no clear evidence to support the argument that a DP prevents the cost of public drunkenness being passed onto public services. The ADP does however want the public to be aware that: a) When Police Scotland, the Scottish Ambulance Service and other statutory services encounter someone who is D&I in Aberdeen City, they will continue to provide appropriate care and support. b) People found D&I will continue to only ever be taken to the NHS Grampian Accident & Emergency Unit where there is a clinical reason for doing so. There appears to be a continuing perception that those individuals who are D&I will be taken to A&E as a result of there not being a DP. People who are D&I will not be taken to A&E unless there is a clinical need. Conversely it is important to note that a DP isn’t a clinical facility, therefore if there is a clinical requirement for someone to be taken to A&E this happens whether the individual is drunk or not. The ADP has been working with partners to enhance processes for dealing with people in Aberdeen City who are found D&I. This will include: 1. Increasing public awareness in regards to the high public cost of irresponsible alcohol consumption 2. Communicating to the public in general that being D&I is technically an offence, and signposting individuals to local alcohol services if they require help. 3. Police Scotland will refer the details of anyone who is found D&I on more than one occasion to the ACC, Community Safety Partnership (CSP) Hub, so that enhanced service support interventions can be considered, particularly if there are underlying problems. A case manager will work with the CSP Hub to manage this process. 4. NHS Grampian is reviewing opportunities for Custody Nurses to be based within the new Police Custody Suite at Kittybrewster. These nurses will be able to clinically assess and triage people coming into custody. This will include anyone taken there who appears to be intoxicated (through alcohol and/or drugs). 5. The locally commissioned alcohol service ‘Alcohol Aberdeen’ operated by the third sector organisation, DA, providing ‘in reach’ support at the Police Custody Suite at Kittybrewster. This will include, brief interventions, support and onward referral, where necessary, to alcohol services. 6. Exploring the option to use the new £3.5m ACC Homeless Unit at West North Street, Aberdeen for emergency support for anyone found D&I who is homeless. 7. Looking to enhance and better integrate joint work in the city centre through Police Scotland, Scottish Ambulance Service, Street Wardens, and the Street Pastors to ensure that people are safe and that any vulnerable persons are dealt with appropriately, particularly during busy times, such as the weekend. 8. Continuing to work with the ACC Licensing Board and Local Licensing Forum in order to meet the five national licensing objectives, of: Preventing crime and disorder Securing public safety Preventing public nuisance Protecting and improving public health Protecting children from harm In supporting this, the ADP will be widely promoting the key public health message, reminding everyone that they should drink responsibly and within recommended guidelines. Understandably ASL has argued against the joint decision of ADP partners. In recent weeks they have published a ‘Social Return On Investment’ (SROI) report. The ADP understands that ASL has now circulated the SROI report widely in an effort to garner support for their position. The ADP does not support the arguments asserted in the SROI report. In particular the ADP notes that the SROI uses selective figures to argue that for every £1 spent there is a social return of between £4.17 and £6.12. In coming up with these speculative figures, the report makes an erroneous assumption that statutory services, including the Police and NHS Grampian, will not remodel in the lead up to April 2016 in order to deal with the problem. This is a serious flaw lending itself to a misleading supposition. The officers of ADP have met and plan to continue meeting monthly with ASL during this period of change. Prepared on behalf of Aberdeen City Alcohol and Drug Partnership For further queries please contact Simon Rayner, Development Manager: simon.rayner@nhs.net, 01224 557871 or Sandy Kelman, ADP Team Lead: alexander.kelman@nhs.net, 01224 557042