Drug and alcohol worker speaks about rehab service changes during lockdown

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Paul Almond, who works with addiction support service We Are With You, told how colleagues have pulled together to replace face-to-face working with deliveries to service users and group meetings using technology.

A skeleton staff has been retained at the Coops Building in Wigan town centre and at Kennedy House in Leigh, but for the most part service users have been remaining at home and receiving the help they need there.

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Mr Almond, who is also one of the Unison trade union members involved in the currently-postponed dispute with We Are With You over pay arrangements, gave residents an insight into what it has been like working on the front line and told of the challenges faced and solved.

Mr Almond said: “The majority of staff are working from home, keeping in contact with clients via telephone. In some cases where people don’t have phones or can’t afford them we’ve bought a number of cheap phones and pay-as-you-go sim cards.

Paul Almond, who works for We Are With YouPaul Almond, who works for We Are With You
Paul Almond, who works for We Are With You

“There are some things you can’t do remotely and we’ve had to start doing things we previously didn’t.

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“We’ve had to deliver prescriptions to pharmacies and also deliver our needle exchange differently. That had to continue because it reduces the risk of HIV and hepatitis C.

“We’ve been encouraging clients to get in touch with key workers and then I loaded the boot of my car with the needle exchange and went out to deliver with a spreadsheet of client identifiers.

“There were some teething troubles and something like this obviously brings challenges, but we’ve all pulled together and pulled all the stops out, working hard to minimise the disruption to the service and our clients.”

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In some instances, such as the group sessions which are currently being run online, Mr Almond says lockdown has actually had some benefits.

He said: “We’ve found the sessions on Meet have been quite popular. Some people need IT assistance to get themselves set up but we’ve been able to provide that.

“Some people who previously if they weren’t having a good day might have just postponed a one-to-one session are attending online because it’s in the comfort of their homes.

“There has actually been increased participation.”

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Mr Almond says a number of people have still been seeking help at Coops Building and Kennedy House and admitted that at times employees have had to dish out some advice on social distancing to keep everyone safe.

He says the drug and alcohol support service has been fortunate as it has escaped serious outbreaks of Covid-19 among the employees.

Having been part of a group which spent months last year in a campaign seeking pay equality with equivalent roles in the NHS, Mr Almond says he has also found himself thinking about how the pandemic has changed public views of the groups now described as key workers.

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He said: “It will be interesting to see if the support for public services remains. Here in Wigan we’ve got messages painted on the roads and a really nice floral tribute.

“That’s wonderful and a morale boost but it doesn’t pay rent, mortgages or food bills.

“We’ve realised sectors of society on substantial wages, like footballers or entertainers, are providing something desirable but not essential. The really necessary people are the workers cleaning hospitals or driving lorries. They have the true value in society.

“This has brought out the best in us, which is a good thing.”