Derby's new substance misuse clinic, the Bradshaw Clinic, is a joint initiative led by Derby Community Safety Partnership on behalf of the local authority and Derby City Primary Care Trust. The clinic cares for drug users in Derby using a harm reduction approach within a Primary Care setting. The clinic which is the first of its kind in the UK offers substitute prescribing, needle exchange facilities together with outreach services from maternity and sexual health.

The Bradshaw Clinic was created to:
- Continue growth in the treatment provision in the city
- Ensure that Government targets for capacity, waiting times and retention continue to be met
- Ensure the needs of the city in relation to drug treatment is met
- Ensure those that need help will get it when they need it
- Continue to build upon the level of care provided in the city

Derby Community Safety Partnership, working in partnership with the local authority and the Primary Care Trust, is creating services that will be able to grow and adapt with demand, meet the needs of the city as they change and evolve and ensure that the impact of illicit drug use upon the people who live and work in the city of Derby is minimised and also, those who suffer with a drug dependency, have the opportunity to get the help that they need to overcome their problems and minimise the harms to themselves this dependency causes.

The clinic operates on a city wide basis aiming to provide fast access to treatment for all service users to tackle drugs and break the link between drugs and crime.

As a Primary Care service the clinic continues to maintain and develop strong links with a wide network of Primary Care services and has an ethos which is Primary Care based and complements the work done with drug users by local GPs. Well established care pathways ensure all patients enter treatment with minimal waiting times – the current average waiting time is 2 days from receipt of referral to first appointment. The clinic strives to offer patient care of the highest quality to all patients.

The pioneering approach to substance misuse treatment has seen the clinic attract widespread interest in its model of excellence within the drug treatment field and this is something upon which the clinic strives to continue to build upon in the future with discussions ongoing regarding further outreach support services.

The service will develop to be able to respond to all aspects of drug addiction and recognises that successful treatment requires much more support than purely a maintenance prescription.

The Bradshaw Clinic is a joint project funded by the Derby Community Safety Partnership and Derby City Primary Care Trust.