UNISON North West has slammed plans to hand the city’s successful drug service over to three charitable organisations.
For many years the service has been run by Greater Manchester West Mental Health NHS Foundation Trust and has been in the forefront of innovative treatment and recovery programmes for people with addiction across the city.
With less than two weeks to the hand over on 1 July, the union has condemned the serious lack of clarity over future service provision. There is no clear structure in place to ensure a smooth transition, and UNISON is concerned that some essential services will be lost.
North West head of health Paul Foley said: “The union is seriously concerned that the outsourcing of an essential service will lead to chaos. There is no clear structure in place to ensure that vulnerable clients and their families will continue to receive the services currently in place.
“At least one of the charities which will take over services is trying to circumvent their legal obligations to current staff which means that many highly-trained professions with years of experience may be out of work at the end of the month.”
Mr Foley added that there were also concerns over the announcement that a needle exchange programme in the south of the city is to close.