About Drug Services

Swindon Drug & Alcohol Action Team commission a broad range of treatment and support services across the Borough. The drug treatment services cater for drug users, their parents, carers, friends and family.

There are lots of different treatment options available. When you decide to get help with your drug problem, you will be referred to a service and assessed by a qualified drug worker.  Your drug worker will work with you to develop a programme of support suited to your needs.

Drug treatment is structured in different tiers. The level of support you need will determine which treatment tier you access. 

Free-phone helpline number 0800 970 4830

The Single Point of Contact helpline number is available to phone for information and advice about the drug and alcohol treatment and support services available across Swindon. Helpline staff can deal with all treatment and support related queries and also refer individuals directly into treatment services. If you are a professional wanting to make a referral, please contact the SDAAT on 10793 466506.

Tier one services - Information and advice

Tier one services are non specific general services. They aren't specialised drug services but staff usually have some experience of working with drug users or may come into contact with people who use drugs on a regular basis (for example teachers, housing officers and social workers). They should be able to offer general advice and guidance and can refer individuals into tier two services if a greater level of support is needed.

Tier two services - Open access treatment and brief interventions

Tier two services are open access drug services. Different centres vary in what they offer but you can expect to receive advice and support on a drop-in basis. Some centres also offer complementary therapies (such as massage or acupuncture). Counselling and group support is also normally offered as well as harm reduction information (safer drug use) and advice on blood borne viruses.

Tier three services - Community based structured treatment

 Community Drug Teams (CDTs) offer a more structured programme as a substitute to the illicit drug which has been used. Substitute prescribing is most commonly used to help drug users come off heroin, but can also be offered to dependant users of amphetamines (though this is not as common). A range of support services are also offered such as counselling and complementary therapies.

Shared Care

Substitute prescribing services are also available from the 36 GP surgeries across Swindon. The shared care programme is where your GP works alongside a qualified drug worker to offer prescribing and support services. Many people find they prefer to access help and support in this setting rather than accessing treatment centres.

Call 01793 610133 to find out where your nearest GP surgery is on the Shared Care Programme.

Tier four services - Residential structured drug treatment

These are specialist services that include:

• Inpatient detoxification
• specialist units which offer medically supervised withdrawal
• Residential rehabilitation
• intensive structured programmes in controlled residential or hospital inpatient environments.

Access to tier four services is strictly by referral, so you would need to be in contact with Tier two or three services first.

Primary Care Services

There is an extensive network of pharmacy services aimed at limiting some of the risks associated with drug misuse. In addition to services offered by providers there are a large number of pharmacies in Swindon that offer needle exchange and supervised consumption to the Swindon community. You can find more information on Needle Exchange and Supervised Consumption on the map of services page of the website. Vulnerable Services

There are a series of specialist services available for vulnerable groups:

• Rough sleeper outreach CPN
• Outreach
• Drug tenancy support workers to find and support housing needs
• Specialist mother and baby worker
• Blood Bourne Virus Nurse
• Drug and Alcohol liaison nurse (posted in hospital)

A quick and easy way to find out about the services in your area is to visit the Map of Services section of this website. This will give you information about each of the services we commission along with contact information and details of how to find them.

Criminal Justice Services

SDAAT also commission drug treatment interventions for people who need to access drug treatment services as a result of being in the criminal justice system. Some of the services are also available in prisons.

The main aim of criminal justice treatment services is to provide support to break the cycle between crime and prison and the associated problems this can bring. There are many different aspects within the criminal justice system including the arrest referral scheme, testing on arrest, court orders, CARATS, Drug Interventions Programme and aftercare services. They can be found in police stations, courts, prisons and treatment services in the community.