Substance Misuse
Drug / Ex-Drug Users' Forum (DUF)
Purpose of the Forum
"The overarching aims of the forum are; to improve access to treatment; to increase client involvement in care planning and to improve treatment effectiveness."
The purpose of the forum is to:
- To advocate on behalf of drug users who aren't engaging with treatment services.
- To consult with Drug Ex Drug Users whose voices are not currently heard within this Forum, through road show type events and other targeted campaigns.
- To challenge barriers and unrealistic practices that prevent drug addicts/users accessing treatment.
- To ensure treatment providers are involving service users in their own care plans.
- To ensure that Service Users accessing Drug Treatment have their Alcohol consumption regularly assessed, and the appropriate harm reduction advice and/or treatment incorporated into their care plan.
- To identify service user training and development needs.
- To support services and independent user groups in the setting up of service user groups.
- To provide group representation at relevant meetings where the interests of service users will be benefited by our input. (Group representation may only be undertaken with the specific mandate of the group.)
- To feed into the commissioning process therefore challenging The Crime and Drug Partnership to commission a comprehensive range of treatment options thus enabling service user choice.
- To inform the NTA regionally of service user issues and have representation on the NTA Regional Forum.
- To take the service user involvement agenda forward.
