Falkirk Council

Background

Falkirk Council is committed to the development of a partnership across the Forth Valley. This is enshrined in our support of the structure and activities of the Forth Valley Substance Action Team.

The Forth Valley SAT has adopted a tiered approach to understanding and responding to substance related matters across the whole of the Forth Valley. By substances we include all illegal drugs; alcohol; tobacco; solvents and gases and those over the counter or prescribed medicines that are used inappropriately.

The tiered approach is designed to convey the following:

• strategic development decisions need to be made within the context of the ‘whole picture’
• different services exist to meet the differing needs of different individuals (the complete opposite of the ‘one size fit’s all’ model)
• the majority of individuals access/require the services of tier 1 services
• interventions offered by services will vary according to the needs of the client group as clients move from tier 1 upwards the provision becomes increasingly specialised
• the tiered approach provides clear, focused outcomes for activities in relation to the overall provision.

Tier 1

The characteristics of tier 1 include:

• Direct access with a number of access points and a range of opening times
• Booked appointments, information and advice services and short-term focused counselling
• Assessment service and referral on point for all other services
• Support for families and friends of substance users and those who have recently completed a treatment programme
• Harm reduction advice and guidance and needle exchange services

Tier 2

The characteristics of tier 2 include:

• It is more likely that workers will be professionals
• Most appointments will be booked
• Will include medical services and community and home detoxification services
• Mainly one to one counselling and problem solving work
• It is unlikely that clients will have serious physical or mental health problems

Tier 3

The characteristics of tier 3 include:

• Referrals from professional bodies
• Clients more likely to have a longer history of problematic substance use and physical/mental health problems
• It is unlikely that this will be the clients first experience of treatment
• Interventions will include supporting clients who are undergoing in-patient detoxification
• Clients who are stabilised and involved with the shared care programme and moving on

Tier 4

The characteristics of tier 4 include:

• Referrals from professional and self referrals
• The majority of clients will have past experience of services from the other tiers
• Referral to residential rehabilitation
• Preparation for becoming ‘job-ready’ and moving on to employment
• Supporting clients in work placements

Directory of services in the Falkirk area (Tier 1)

Tier 1	Administrative Base	Telephone	Catchment Area
Signpost Forth Valley	Alloa Business Park Whinns Road Alloa FK10 35A	01259 726 605	Forth Valley Wide
Counselling & Support Services Alcohol & Drugs	13 Pitt Terrace Stirling	01786 450 721	Forth Valley Wide Mainly Dawson area
The Hope Project	81 Corbiehall Bo'ness EH51 0AU	01506 823 477	Mainly Bo'ness but some services are Falkirk and Forth Valley Wide
People Against Drugs	13 Carron's Way New Carron Falkirk	01324 631 008	Mainly Carronshore Area

Directory of services in the Falkirk area (Tier 2)

Tier 2	Administrative Base	Telephone	Catchment Area
Signpost Forth Valley (Specialist Service for young people up to age 18)	Haypark Business Centre Marchmont Avenue Polmont	01324 506 721	Falkirk Council Area only
Community Alcohol and Drugs Service	Bannockburn Hospital Bannockburn Stirling FK7 8AH	Drug Service 01786 483 121 Alcohol Service 01786 483 131	Forth Valley wide

Directory of services in the Falkirk area (Tier 3)

Tier 3	Administrative Base	Telephone	Catchment Area
Community Alcohol & Drug Service	Bannockburn Hospital Bannockburn Stirling FK7 8AH	Drug Service 01786 483 121 Alcohol Service 01786 483 131	Forth Valley Wide

Directory of services in the Falkirk area (Tier 4)

Tier 4	Administrative Base	Telephone	Catchment Area
Brenda House	7 Hay Road Niddrie Edinburgh EH16 4QE	0131 669 6676	National Resource
Pheonix House (Therapeutic Community - long term rehabilitation service)	586 Keppochhill Road Springburn Glasgow G22 5HS	0141 332 0117	National Resource
Forth Dimension (Help recovering and recovered drug users re-integrate back into society)	Ward 8 Sauchie Hospital Parkhead Road Sauchie FK10 3BZ	01259 222 700	Forth Valley wide
Back on Track	Bo'ness Railway Preservation Society 17-19 North Street Bo'ness EH51 0AQ	01506 825 855	Forth Valley wide