DDN

Room to improve

Diversity rules
Different groups for different folks
Editorial - Claire Brown

HERE IT IS – our first national directory of service user groups! Around 200 groups are listed in our centre pullout, the result of a lot of ringing around and emailing over the last few weeks. We’re going to be doing a new directory every six months, so please don’t panic if we haven’t got your group listed in this issue – just get in touch and you’ll be in next time around. We expect this to be a constantly changing resource and you’ll see from the selection of groups that we’ve featured from each region that we’re keen on looking at what’s working.

So get in touch if we can put the spotlight on your activities in our next SUG update. Whatever the style of service user group we talked to, one thing came across loud and clear – that there’s never been a greater need to speak up and be noticed. The growing network of recovery groups has momentum, carried by a wave of political support, while the more traditionally structured groups are finding their purpose clearer than ever – particularly in a climate of acute concern about the future of substitute prescribing. We hope the directory will give you an excuse to shout about what matters to you – and for those who aren’t involved and would like to be, we hope it will give you signposts for getting involved.

Alongside the directory we’ve covered issues that will matter to those working with different styles of treatment and recovery, from an exploration of the next step for needle exchange and consumption rooms in the UK (page 6) to a helpful guide on a training programme for recovery-orientated treatment, by Dr David Best and colleagues (page 8). Meanwhile Alex Boyt brings the heavy questions hanging over treatment right back to personal experience, in his thought-provoking comment (page 10). We’re now taking our summer break from DDN – but we’ll be in the office involved in plenty of other projects and updating our website, so please get in touch. I’ll also be scheduling articles for the autumn, so take your notebook on holiday! See you on 13 September.