UKRR @ The RCGP/ SMMGP 18th National Drug & Alcohol Problems in Primary Care: Joining the Dots Conference

Hello Again Followers, Friends and Curious others :) I hope you are all well... Just a quick update on last weeks events and also to let you know what is coming up soon.

UKRR Members attended both days events held at The National Motorcycle Museum in Birmingham, organised by The RCGP (Royal College of General Practitioners), the 18th National Drug & Alcohol Problems in Primary Care: Joining the Dots Conference.

Two of our members attended the conference on Thursday and were thrilled to collect our first official Press Passes with their names on at the registration desk and arrived in the main hall just in time to hear Dr Judith Yates open the conference with a plea for Birmingham to have a place where those who are known to be injecting drugs in the worst possible situations can at least use the needles we give them safely.

Steve Brinksman introduced the Families theme of the conference; he was followed by a father and son who gave brave and honest accounts of their twenty year journey to date; then before the break the conference heard about the effects on children of growing up in disfunctional families. In the break our leaflets were generously given table space by the people from Breaking Free Online, The Skills Consortium (cheers Carol), Broadway Lodge, The Medical Council on Alcohol and the conference sponsors Reckitt Benckiser Pharmaceuticals (manufacturers of Subutex). Meeting and chatting with people along the way our intrepid reporters missed the first half of Chris Fords' excellent seminar on Benzo's and Z drugs but caught enough to know that it was excellent:-)

The last session on Thursday was convened by Dr Ed Day - a man who mostly works in a shed and has agreed to become one of our first trustees, Ed has been a supporter of UKRR from the start and he was given the dubious honour of introducing Anna Soubry the Parliamentary Undersecretary of State for Health who respected the conference by shunning a ministerial address and going straight to questions from the floor, she did not get an easy ride:)

The afternoon ended with a startling presentation on the hidden prevalence and generational pathology of Foetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD), a form of irreversible brain damage which can strike the child of any woman who drinks at any stage in pregnancy and is reckoned to affect 1% of the world population, and as much as 10% of the UK, 30% in places. The day ended on a slightly lighter note as around 400 GP's were made to stand and try to push each other over, to illustrate that we all push back when we are pushed, Prof Donald Forrester  making the serious point in regard to talking to parents who use drugs.

We had a great time on Friday as well, learning so much about new drug for Hepatitis C that cures 100% of those affected, by taking one pill everyday for 3 months from Prof Graham Foster - Consultant Hepatologist, London Bridge Hospital; we heard about how GP`s and drug workers alike are being encouraged to promote NA, AA, CA etc... to their client base so that they are able to build a Recovery Social Network and Recovery Capital that could `Literally save their lives'; A prescription for life - Mark Gilman NTA; Rosanna O`Connor Director of Drugs, Alcohol, Public Health was asked a brilliant question about obesity that cracked up 95% of the people in the room, but that had a solid argument behind it :-) You had to be there I think, anyway on with the blog...

All in all, it was another great event, we met some people we know, DATUS members, CHANGES UK members and not to forget I bumped into Rich Maunders from the UK Recovery Walk Birmingham 2013, Looking Very Smart may I add, doing his promotion thing and doing it very well. Hello Rich and thank you for your interview last week it was great and have some really good answers to share. ;-) We had tremendous fun and laughs plus we managed to make contact with people we had only just met, that felt like we had known each other for ages.

There was a Concurrent Stream of different workshops to attend from: New treatments for alcohol related problems; Domestic Violence-Supporting people with drug and alcohol problems; Clinical Update - Whats new in 2013?; Motivational Interviewing; EQUATOR: The largest pan-european opioid dependence treatment survey to date, findings for uk service delivery; Commissioning in the new public health environment.

All this learning and its only lunch time :-) We were supplied with a very nice lunch and had a few breaks for tea & biscuit refills (yum yum)

After lunch there was again a great line up of speakers and equally good topics like: Legal Highs and Club drugs, Dr Owen Bowden-Jones Central and North West London NHS Foundation Trust and a Q & A session then followed. It was awesome to hear all the different points of view and different problems that GP`s encountered in their lives, while working in the industry.

We attended a workshop for Pathalogical Gambling in Primary Care for GP`s and heard an account of a gamblers life story addicted to gambling and embezzling money from the company he worked for. It was heart wrenching stuff at times and makes you realize there are other addictions that are equally as hard for theat person to recover from and that anyone can get an addiction, no matter how old or young, rich or poor, clever or stupid or even background, culture or faith.

Among other classes was one that really stood out for me. That was because someone I have recently met and getting to know, a complete inspiration, by the name of Philippe Bonnett an outreach worker from Birmingham who made a YouTube Video titled `Drug Consumption Rooms' brought it to the conference, played it, it got voted on with a few others that were also played AND IT WON YEEEAAAAHHH!! Congrats to philippe, We have the pleasure of Interviewing Philippe this coming week and will now be adding questions, about his new found fame ;-)

I forgot mention, a big WELL DONE also to Humphrey and Reubin of DATUS, with James Sadler, for there very intriguing and interesting speeches, on the Decriminilisation of drugs at this time: House Says No, Talk. Brilliant Guys really enjoyed it.

As I mentioned through the week UKRR members have been busy again lining up interviews, conducting Interviews, first for some and arranging to attend events like the RCGP Conference. We have been talking to other members within the trust to hold UKRR workshops at certain places around Birmingham. We are becoming known as UK Recovery Radio who are Inspiring, Promoting and Celebrating Recovery from Addictions and people are eager & excited to speak to us. Proof of Life after addictions is out there, we are out there and if you want to find it, you will. You will not have to look hard either.

Saving the BEST NEWS for last, A few Very Happy, Nervous and Excited, UKRR Members, had their photos taken & their stories heard, to feature on  a 2- PAGE spread in the Birmingham Mail, Hopefully due to be released next Wednesday, so keep your eyes peeled for that.

Hope you have enjoyed my blog of a brilliant week, yet again, of learning, gaining experience and building networks. Come back again for the next Podcast Progress Report, Out Soon...

Please do not hesitate to contact us and also check out our new 'network links' page to find information and links to others helpful sites & services who have supported and/ or appeared in our podcast, as well as links to some useful recovery resources.

Thank you and Take Care
Jaine Mason.