Our
Services
We provide specialist clinical care, primary care and prescribing services for those in the community that require support.
Specialist prescribing
We have provided a specialist prescribing service (Opiates) to the community of Middlesbrough for over 12 years. The work we deliver is on behalf of Public Health and Wellbeing Middlesbrough Council as part of the Safer Middlesbrough Partnership and is focused on giving you the help you need when you want to make those changes.
Our team are passionate about helping you and are here to talk to you and guide you through your prescribing programme.
This may include specialist support in:
- Opiate substitute prescribing (including oral methadone)
- Methadone prescribing – maintenance and detoxification
- Buprenorphine prescribing
- Naltrexone prescribing
- Non-opiate based detoxification
- Naloxone prescribing
In addition, we look at a full range of health and wellbeing solutions available to help you make positive changes in your life. We care about you and we’re here to help.
If you want to get over an alcohol issue, our specialist teams will support you and your family, when you need us.
We have a full range of services including:
- Home/Inpatient detoxification
- Relapse prevention
We will also help you access a range of psychosocial interventions and aftercare health support.
Specialist primary care
We are a provider of specialist primary care services for the people of Middlesbrough, these are services that are usually provided by your GP. These services are commissioned by NHS England to help us support you, the people of Middlesbrough and we have been successfully doing this since 2001.
Our practice has around 800 people registered, who have different levels of drug and alcohol issues or have found themselves homeless. We make sure that you get the best care and attention at Foundations which is why we provide you with rapid access to services and treatments. We want to help you build a better life and a better future for your families.
Once registered with us, you will have your own named GP who will be there to support you. If you’ve forgotten who your doctor is, just call us to find out. If ever your preferred doctor isn’t available, we’ll always find you an alternative.
Do you have a chronic illnesses (for example, hypertension, angina, diabetes, asthma, COPD)? We can help you find the most suitable treatment.
Do you feel depressed or become anxious? We are here to talk and will support you to make that positive change.
Do you suffer with muscular pain, arthritis or thyroid dysfunction? Let our staff take care of you.
Primary Care services also include ill health prevention and health promotion, specialist maternal and child health care services, such as family planning services and vaccinations as well as a range of treatment options in relation to harm reduction.
On behalf of all GP practices in South Tees we hold the violent patient register. This means any patient listed on the register will come to our practice.
Our clinicians work closely with a range of other experts to provide the very best care for you. This could include clinical support workers, IBA drug and alcohol misuse support workers, alcohol detox workers, healthcare assistants as well as health improvement assistants. We also ensure close collaboration with other healthcare providers including, community services, Acute (Hospital) services and mental health services.
We want to help you, so whilst you are not able to refer yourself when requiring support for a drug or alcohol issue, we will be able to provide you with details of the services that can help you.
If you are within the Middlesbrough area, just call us on 01642 354550. You’ll get your own doctor who is responsible for your care.
Diamorphine Assisted Treatment
Diamorphine Assisted Treatment (DAT) is a pioneering programme for patients with a long term dependency on heroin.
Places on the programme are limited by funding and patients are selected from a cohort with a long-term dependency on street heroin who have failed to respond to other treatments and have been identified as causing most concern to criminal justice agencies and health and social care services.
DAT treats heroin dependency as an illness. Each patient is assessed and prescribed a twice daily dose of diamorphine which they self-administer under medical supervision in a dedicated treatment room within the Foundations clinic.
They are then assessed for 10-15 minutes to ensure there is no adverse reaction to the medication.
With the need to commit crime in order to fund drug addiction removed, patients are able to better focus on their health and wellbeing and engage with specialists from other agencies including in health, housing and welfare to address issues that may be contributing to the root causes of their addiction.
This reduced offending brings respite to local shopkeepers and residents, hope for patients and their families as well as savings to police, ambulance and other public services.
As progress is made and lives stabilised, patients are able to reduce their dosage without falling back onto street heroin. Once free of the need for opioids they can return to society or engage with other rehabilitation services such as recovery connections.
The programme was initially set up in 2019 through funding provided by Police and Crime Commissioner Barry Coppinger, Durham Tees Valley Community Rehabilitation Company, Tees and Wear Prisons Group in conjunction with resources provided by South Tees Public Health Foundations Medical Practice.
The aim was:
• Reduce the number of street deaths caused through heroin addiction.
• Promote independence, long term recovery and desistance from offending behaviour.
• Provide respite for local residents and businesses so often the victims of crime to fund addiction.
• Remove the health risks associated with street heroin and drug litter.
• Free up the substantial public resources, including health and police, currently dealing with the problem.
• Cut off the funding stream to drugs gangs.
Since March 2022 the programme has been funded by Operation Adder – targetted Government funding allocated to Middlesbrough specifically to reduce drug-related death and offending in the town.
DAT has been subject to rigorous and ongoing independent evaluation. It is a long term approach to tackling heroin addiction and results have shown that the vast majority of participants have moved away from street heroin dependency, no longer commit crime and have shown improvement in health.
In some cases patients have been able to leave DAT having completely rebuilt their lives, re-established connections with family, found secure accommodation and a purpose in life, free from the street heroin that had ensnared them for decades.
You can read examples of these case studies on our ‘Our Stories’ page.