Substance Misuse
Management in General Practice
In 1995 Chris Ford and Brian Whitehead, who had been working together in general practice treating people who had drug problems, realised that they were managing complex people very much in isolation.
They knew of others doing similar work and realised that there may be many more of their colleagues in a similar situation.
They called a small group of GPs and other practitioners working with drug users in general practice together to discuss how to support people doing this work.
It was decided to hold a conference entitled “Management of Drug Users in General Practice” was held in 1996 and sold out in a few weeks with 100 delegates attending.
It was organised through the Royal College of General Practitioners (RCGP) HIV Working Party (which since 2001 has been renamed RCGP Sex, Drugs & HIV Task Group).
We believe that recovery is best defined by the individual seeking it, and that it is not for academics or treatment providers to tell anyone what recovery should mean to them.
We assert that for some people, recovery can be medication assisted for a short or longer time (on maintenance) whilst the person achieves other gains in health, social care and reintegration (participation in the rights, roles and responsibilities of society).