The HSE Substance Misuse Team in Waterford recently hosted the Minister of State with responsibility for the National Drugs Strategy, Colm Burke TD, at their premises at St Otteran’s Hospital.

The Minister was welcomed by Lisa Robson, Clinical Lead, Substance Misuse, HSE South East Community Healthcare. The Minister heard from various team members who provided an overview of their services. The Minister also heard from members of the local HSE Health and Wellbeing team.

The Substance Misuse Team provides a range of free and confidential services in Waterford City and County. These services are for anyone affected by problematic drugs or alcohol misuse and can be accessed by individuals regardless of what stage they are at - right across the spectrum of addiction. The service’s mission is to promote wellness and recovery while improving the overall quality of life for individuals and their families struggling with substance misuse.

The HSE Substance Misuse Service takes an inter-agency, care and case management approach, ensuring that the complex needs of service users and their families are met.

The Substance Misuse Recovery Team in Waterford comprises of GPs, an assistant director of nursing, a substance misuse liaison nurse, a drug and alcohol liaison midwife, a senior counsellor, addiction counsellors, community-based drug and alcohol workers, outreach workers, a drugs education officer, local substance misuse co-ordinators and a clinical lead. The team also work with primary care GPs and community pharmacies in providing a patient-centred approach.

Services provided by the Substance Misuse Team include Drug Education and Prevention, featuring drug education officers who work in partnership with the community-based drugs initiative workers in the voluntary sector to provide drug education and awareness programmes to individuals, their families and the community.

Outreach

The team also oversee a Drugs Outreach and Community-Based Initiative where workers provide harm reduction education, relapse-prevention and family support.

Their Needle and Syringe programme is available through the Waterford HSE service and community pharmacies as part of the harm reduction programme. This service not only provides clean injecting equipment, but also provides harm reduction education, overdose awareness, along with linkage to treatment within the Substance Misuse Services.

They also offer individual and group counselling. The Substance Misuse teams are also supported by Mental Health Addiction Counsellors who are employed through the HSE Mental Health services in Brook House, Waterford.

The Homeless Outreach Service sees staff work with individuals who are homeless or at risk of being homeless and have a substance misuse issue. Their Opioid Agonist Treatment (OAT) involves Methadone/Buprenorphine treatment which is available in Waterford City and is also now available in the West Waterford area. OAT is provided as part of a holistic package of care which includes psycho-social support. The service works to ensure that all service users have a comprehensive assessment and care plan in place with a full range of treatment options available. 

Substance misuse liaison nurses 

Substance misuse liaison nurses provide nursing assessments, care planning and interventions which may include blood borne virus screening and vaccination, along with physical and mental health support. They also work with community-based GPs to support individuals to engage in community-based detoxification programmes.  

The University Hospital Waterford-based substance misuse liaison nurse is one of the first posts of its kind nationally. The service allows for screening, brief intervention activities, and onward referral for people attending the acute hospital with drug or alcohol-related issues.

Drug and alcohol liaison midwife

The drug and alcohol liaison midwife works collaboratively with the four maternity hospitals in the South East on a regional basis, providing intervention and support to pregnant women and their families experiencing substance misuse issues. This service is now in operation just over a year. South East Cocaine Addiction Support is provided online in the South East for service users and their families impacted by cocaine and/or crack cocaine use

A Regional Early Alert group is also in place for substances of concern. This is provided by Emergency Department consultants in the South East Region in partnership with the HSE Clinical Lead Substance Misuse and Regional Clinical Team. ‘Better Together’ online peer support is also provided in collaboration with the South East Regional Drug and Alcohol Task Force and the Fr McGrath Centre in Kilkenny.

Contact can be made with the HSE Waterford Substance Misuse Team on (051) 848 658. Self-referrals can be facilitated, in addition to those made to the Substance Misuse team by a GP, healthcare professional or support worker.

A range of resources on substance misuse (including in several languages) is available on the HSE’s www.Drugs.ie.