Latest news with #DISCTrust
Otago Daily Times
6 days ago
- Health
- Otago Daily Times
Needle exchange ‘saved' life
A worried drug user says a Dunedin needle-exchange service in line for the axe has saved her life more than once. It comes after the Otago Daily Times revealed the Dunedin branch of the DISC Trust was among those which have lost the contract to administer the free needle-exchange programme for intravenous drug users. It had held the contract since 1988 when the government rolled out the programme. Staff and support workers at the Dunedin branch were either ex-users or had strong ties to the community, meaning they operated a fully "peer-based" approach to harm reduction and support. There are fears the new service will not fully replicate that approach. A client, who declined to be named, credited the organisation with saving her from "certain death", providing health advice and refuge from a toxic relationship. "Not all of us are junkies, I've always been able to hold down a job. I've got a business degree. "I have used the service for the past decade, but in the past five years, they've saved my life more than once. Without them, I would be dead." She felt "incredibly sad" for the staff at the Dunedin branch, who "really understood" her. "They're the ones that I turn to because they listen, and they don't interrupt you when you're talking to them. "They listen, and they offer self-advice, and they're just there for you whenever you need them. "I don't understand ... I mean, what's going to happen to us as a community?" She said the fact the service had an on-call GP was a literal lifesaver. "He could have just written a prescription for a month and then not even thought about me again. But he refused to do that. "I was waiting to get into rehab and they rang me every week to make sure I was all right and everything." Health New Zealand Te Whatu Ora (HNZ) Starting Well programme director Deborah Woodley said HNZ conducted an open procurement process for the delivery of regional needle-exchange and harm-reduction services. "The request for proposal [RFP] for regional needle-exchange and harm-reduction services clearly outlined the requirements for service delivery including that people with lived and living experience have significant roles in the design, delivery and leadership of the programme," she said. "An evaluation panel, with representatives from Hauora Māori services, lived experience, policy, population health, mental health and addictions and national commissioning, evaluated proposals and made recommendations for preferred providers of regional services which were accepted by Health New Zealand." A worker at DISC's Dunedin branch, who asked not to be named, was "highly sceptical" about HNZ's response. "As far as we workers understand, the provision for lived and living experience in the RFP has been a box-ticking exercise. "The RFP asked for 'input' from those with lived and living experience: in our experience, asking for input is shorthand for asking for a non-actionable and dismissable statement from a group of people with real experience whose feedback they plan to ignore and certainly not take seriously." University of Otago (Christchurch) department of public health senior lecturer Dr Rose Crossin said it was important the right support models were in place. "The needle exchanges work because they're so trusted by their clients and that trust builds over a really long period of time. "It isn't just about providing sterile injecting equipment. "That's great, and it's absolutely important that clients of the needle exchange have access to sterile injecting equipment, but it is that holistic care. "It's about being able to go somewhere where you don't feel judged and you don't feel afraid." New Zealand Needle Exchange Programme executive director Philippa Jones said the DISC Trust discovered it had lost the contract on June 16. "The current contract is $1.4 million for the South Island. "The new contract funding was reduced to $1m. "We don't know anything about the new providers' service delivery model or locations. "We are not aware of the proposed staffing model and whether people with lived and living experience of injecting drug use will be employed to deliver the service. "Naturally, our clients are deeply concerned and worried. "After more than 35 years of delivering this specialist service, we were surprised by the decision." An HNZ spokeswoman said funding for the regional delivery of needle-exchange and harm-reduction services had been allocated based on population statistics.
Otago Daily Times
7 days ago
- Health
- Otago Daily Times
HIV fears as needle exchange to close
Contract goes to Chch provider The impending closure of the Dunedin-run needle-exchange service could lead to a rise in HIV cases throughout the city, advocates fear. The Otago Daily Times has been told DISC Trust has lost its contract to administer the programme, which will now be run by Christchurch-based health services provider He Waka Tapu. The trust, which includes the Southland Harm Reduction Programme, Dunedin Intravenous Organisation, Timaru Needle Exchange Trust and Nelson Injecting Community Health Enterprise, is part of a community network that has run the programme for more than 35 years. It is understood at least 15 South Island support staff will lose their jobs as a result of the contract's move. This includes three of the five Dunedin staff. A Dunedin worker said he was worried about the new provider's lack of experience and "on the ground" knowledge. In particular, he worried it might stop the peer-based system, in which ex-users, or those who had ties to the community, provided harm reduction advice and support, he said. "Our biggest concern is the lack of peer input — everyone here in Dunedin is a peer, which greatly reduces the stigmatism of the service. "Often we're the only point-of-health contact for the intravenous drug users, because of the stigma. "For intravenous drug users, as soon as they are doing it, they are breaking the law. So everyone that we serve is already on the wrong side of the tracks." The Dunedin branch also ran a free GP clinic for its clients, and so far, there had been no indication about its future, he said. "It can take years to build up trust as peers, especially when it comes to getting them accessing the health service." He Waka Tapu provides personalised health consultations, community health initiatives, mental health crisis intervention, addiction support services, reintegration programmes, family violence prevention and educational offerings to promote holistic wellbeing. Although He Waka Tapu had "lots of experience in the practical health field", it had no experience in the peer service aspects of the needle-exchange programme, the worker said. "A huge part of New Zealand's success in not having a widespread HIV problem was down to the provision of clean equipment through the needle-exchange programme. "For many of our clients, we are the only health-related service that they will see at all. "A huge part of addiction is a background in trauma — and you would be surprised at how many of our clients' trauma is related to abuse within the healthcare system or setting." The worker was particularly concerned in the possibility of neglect and logistical issues with setting up a new clean-needle service. "New Zealand is definitely at risk of another HIV pandemic." The worker said he had been made aware by Health New Zealand Te Whatu Ora (HNZ) that DISC's contract would wind up in September. "We only found out yesterday who the new provider is. There's been no contact from the new provider. We can't even imagine how they will staff it without peers." University of Otago (Wellington) public health department Prof Michael Baker said it would be a "grave step backwards" if the new provider moved away from a peer service. "It was really best practice internationally because it meant that these groups could maintain the trust of injecting drug users — and that's almost certainly contributed to the long-term success of the programme. "The HIV response in New Zealand was among the most effective in the world because it had a strong emphasis on basically destigmatising human provision. "We are a pragmatic society. We want things that work." HNZ and He Waka Tapu have been approached for comment.
