Camden News: Drug clinic | secret | location | Tony Brooks | Camden Centre | Health chiefs

Publications by New Journal Enterprises

Home

Archive

Competition

Camden News - by TOM FOOT
Published: 9 April 2009

Drug clinic location will remain a secret

Health chiefs refuse to consult residents over site

THEY can’t tell you how much it will cost, its size or where it is going to be.
It’s no wonder NHS Camden’s consultation on plans to open a hard drugs treatment centre somewhere in south Camden has left the public feeling confused.
At a meeting at the Camden Centre on Thursday, residents were told they would not be consulted on the location of the centre – which will treat 50 addicts a week.
Similar proposals to open a permanent needle exchange in Tottenham Court Road in 2005 were thrown out after a fierce campaign from residents.
The council’s crime czar, head of community safety Tony Brooks, told the meeting: “You’re not being consulted on the location. This is because the first time we went for this [centre] four years ago we did try to narrow down the location during the consultation. What happened was that we set hares running in those areas – and in the end it didn’t get passed.”
He added: “Whether you agree with us or not, we decided not to go down that route.”
Residents described the approach as “basically flawed” and claimed the move could lead to the “nightmare scenario” of a drug clinic opening “in the house next door”.
King’s Cross Labour ward councillor Jonathan Simpson said: “Drugs are a blight on society and maybe this centre can be one of the solutions.
“But we need to speak to the community properly about it. This consultation is outrageous.”
According to statistics from NHS Camden, which commissions health services in the borough, one in five of Camden’s drug addicts live in south of the Euston Road. They are proposing to bring all south Camden drug treatment services under one roof.
The proposals come in response to the displacement of the Soho needle exchange van, which is being pushed out by the Crossrail development at Tottenham Court Road, and because Westminster Council is considering decommissioning the Hungerford Drugs Project in Wardour Street.
Health chiefs say the south Camden drug clinic will open somewhere in either King’s Cross, Holborn, Covent Garden or Bloomsbury, next year.
NHS Camden’s director of commissioning Rebecca Harrington told the meeting: “The main reason we are doing this is because we’ve got a big drugs problem in Camden.
“We need to get people in to help as quickly as we can. Crime falls by half in addicts once they have been engaged in treatment.
“We do not have a location in mind. We are requiring bids for the service to identify options for building.
“The public will get their chance to comment during the planning stages.”
She added: “We know we don’t want it in alleyways where dealers can hide. We want CCTV. We want it in a bustling area.”
Camden Community Safety and Drugs Team leader Mark Morton told the meeting that he had spoken with drug users and they had said they didn’t want the service in King’s Cross because they would be close to dealers and prostitutes.
NHS Camden said it would select a member of a residents’ group where the centre is being located to sit on a panel that will help finalise the plans.

Comment on this article.
(You must supply your full name and email address for your comment to be published)

Name:

Email:

Comment: