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OUTRAGE AT SECRET DRUG CLINIC PLAN
Public in the dark over sensitive needle exchange scheme
A HARD drug clinic and needle exchange is set to open in Camden – but the public are not being told where.
The highly sensitive plan was first suggested three years ago but collapsed under the weight of public opposition.
Now health chiefs are reviving the idea of bringing together all of its drug services under one roof.
It will almost certainly open somewhere south of Euston Road but last night (Wednesday) Camden NHS had not bowed to calls to reveal the exact locations that will be considered.
Organisers are aware residents are intensely worried the new centre – if placed too close to their homes – could lead to Camden’s drug market infringing on their day-to-day life.
It has long been feared that many drug dealers will target “ready-made customers” outside the supersize centre, which will treat more than 50 addicts each day
Priority areas include King’s Cross, Holborn, Bloomsbury and Covent Garden.
Despite the lack of information, Camden NHS has already begun working out how it might attract a private operator to run the facility and has launched a public consultation programme.
Jo Weir, chairwoman of the Covent Garden Community Association, said: “It is simply incredible that they have got to such an advanced stage without being able to say where the centre is going to be.
“I have said since day one that there is no value in having a needle exchange in this area. It simply surrounds the addicts with temptation because the dealers know where to go.”
NHS Camden, the commissioners, has told public and private operators they must suggest a venue as part of their bids – a move critics have condemned as washing their hands of the hard decision of location. Further information will not be made available until April 16,
King’s Cross ward councillor Jonathan Simpson said: “NHS Camden are dodging a very difficult decision. Obviously, it is never going to be perfect to have a major centre like this near your home.
“I would object to it being near a shopping area, like the Brunswick Centre. I think it makes sense for it to go in one of the University College London Hospital buildings.”
Community leaders believe health chiefs are deliberately fudging the consultation in fear of a repeat of the public outcry that has derailed the project in the past.
Jim Murray, chairman of the Bloomsbury Association, said: “We do not object to a drug treatment centre in principle – as long as the full details of it are made public. Until the location is given, there’s very little that can be said on the operational side of things, which is our main concern.”
Camden has notoriously high levels of Class A drug users – it is believed more than 4,400 take heroin or crack cocaine daily – but half of this figure are not known to treatment services.
The drug centre would provide a range of services including counselling, access to medication and HIV testing. Health chiefs also believe the centre will contribute to cutting crime.
NHS Camden’s director of joint commissioning, Rebecca Harrington, said: “We are very mindful of people’s concerns and community safety will be at the top of our agenda when we select the provider, the location and the agreed arrangements for managing any potential impact on the local area.”
There will be a public meeting at the Camden Centre in King’s Cross on Thursday at 6.30pm. |
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