Specialist adult drug and alcohol service - North Yorkshire Horizons

Introduction

Substance misuse is a key UK and international public health priority. Substance misuse is a term which refers to the misuse of drugs and/ or alcohol. Drug and alcohol misuse is a significant cause of premature mortality (early death) and morbidity (avoidable and early on-set diseases) within the UK (Murray, 2013).

Substance misuse occurs across North Yorkshire – a range of data evidences this including from prevalence studies, hospital and criminal justice utilisation data, data from commissioned treatment and recovery services and an academic evaluation report produced by Liverpool John Moores Centre for Public Health (2016). Published figures estimate:

• The number of people who misuse opiates and/ or crack cocaine in North Yorkshire is estimated to be 1,953 with a 95% confidence interval ranging from 1735 to 2295 (Public Health England, 2017).  
• The rate per 1,000 population is estimated to lie between 4.70 - 6.22 (95% confidence interval. 
• A recently published study (Pryce et al., 2017) estimates that 5340 people are alcohol dependent and could benefit from specialist alcohol treatment and recovery support, with a 95% confidence interval ranging from 4,159 to 7,181.

Public Health England data predicts that North Yorkshire now has lower levels of unmet need amongst dependent drinkers and similar levels of unmet need amongst opiate and crack cocaine users[i] compared to the national average. Nevertheless, there remains a need to support significant numbers of vulnerable members of the North Yorkshire community to address addiction.

The Council is expected to ensure the provision of treatment services for drug and alcohol misuse as part of its action to promote population health improvement, protect health and reduce health inequalities. A plethora of evidence shows that treatment services are cost effective to the public purse, and clinically effective in terms of outcome for the individual. The Liverpool John Moores evaluation of the adult drug and alcohol service and Public Health England data demonstrates that North Yorkshire Horizons delivers a high quality service and provides value for money for the public purse.
 

Service Details

North Yorkshire County Council has just completed a procurement exercise to ensure the continuity of the North Yorkshire Horizons service after September 2019, when the current contracts end.

North Yorkshire County Council has awarded the contract for the provision of North Yorkshire Horizons for an initial period of 5 years, with the potential to extend for a further 5 years. Along with our co-commissioner the Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner for North Yorkshire, we’re committed to continuing to work in partnership with the providers of North Yorkshire Horizons, and the broader systems in which the service operates – e.g. GPs, pharmacies, mental health services, job centre, housing services, Stronger Communities etc.

Our ambition is to give individuals the best chance of achieving and maintaining recovery from drug and alcohol misuse, by having a community presence and taking an outreach approach to identifying and engaging people across North Yorkshire who could benefit from the service; by delivering evidence based treatment interventions; by supporting self-sustaining recovery networks; and by advocating for supportive communities. We recognise that recovery will be different for each individual, as will the journey to recovery. North Yorkshire Horizons will continue to promote recovery and harm reduction.

Questions and answers

FAQ document below will be regularly updated to keep stakeholders updated on progress.

Frequently asked questions - Specialist adult drug and alcohol service - North Yorkshire Horizons

Procurement process:

Procurement Consultation

The consultation period has now closed. The Consultation Summary Report can be viewed here.

Procurement timetable

All questions relating to the procurement process must be submitted via Yortender: https://www.yortender.co.uk/

Activity	Timescale *
Market Testing and Consultation Event	12th June 2018
Online Consultation Survey	12th June – 11th July 2018
Consultation workshops – service users only	11th June – 11th July 2018
Publication on YORtender	25 October 2018, Ref DN366170
Tender evaluation and interviews	December 2018 and January 2019
Contract Award	The contract was awarded on 26nd March 2019.
Contract start date	The new contract will commence on 1st October 2019. The service will continue to be referred to as North Yorkshire Horizons.

Update­­­­

This website was last updated on 26th March 2019.

Contact Details

If you would like to know more about North Yorkshire Horizons please visit their website or contact Angela Hall, Health Improvement Manager, nypublichealth@northyorks.gov.uk, 01609 533552.

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