Weston-super-Mare MP John Penrose warned that the Healthcare Commission and National Treatment Agency’s drug report released today which ranked North Somerset as 132nd out of 149 ‘local drug partnerships’ should not be taken at face value.

The report, Substance Misuse Service 2006/7 – Commissioning and Harm Reduction Joint Service Review, shows results form the second of three annual reviews to assess the performance of substance misuse treatment services. All 149 ‘local drug partnerships’ were rated on 10 separate criteria. North Somerset scored a total of 23 out of a possible 40, or a rating of Fair in most categories. (A full breakdown is given below)

Mr Penrose has raised his concerns about the authoritativeness of the report as one of its key findings is that nationally there was 'widespread good practice in relation to commissioning performance management' and that 'partnerships have also made significant progress in relation to care planning and treatment discharge systems' (http://www.healthcarecommission.org.uk/serviceproviderinformation/reviewsandstudies/servicereviews/improvementreviewmethodology/substancemisuse2006/2007.cfm).

Mr Penrose said: “This report is ludicrous. Weston’s drugs problems are caused because too many of the organisations which send addicts for treatment in our town aren't checking whether they're sending them to high-quality rehabs or not, and then dumping them when they come out of treatment instead of moving them on to the next stages of their rehabilitation into normal life. Saying that there's widespread good practice and progress in care planning is bonkers.

“I'm afraid these problems explain North Somerset's low rankings too. We're on the receiving end of everybody else's problems, so it's hardly surprising that our local drug treatment services are overstretched and finding it hard to cope. If everybody else did their fair share, instead of relying on poor old Weston to pick up the pieces, we'd rank a lot higher.

“Anyone reading the report should take its findings with a pinch of salt. I will be approaching the Healthcare Commission to clarify exactly how they went about this report and how they came to these conclusions.”