Swanswell, a national charity that helps people overcome drug, alcohol and other problem behaviour has won the award for their shared care drug services in Birmingham.
Swanswell share responsibility for their service users’ treatment with GPs and surgery staff to provide one of the biggest shared care services in the country. Its success is down to the way the service is run. Swanswell’s method builds on the skills of the GPs in the scheme by supporting them through access to specialist GPs. This gives doctors the confidence to advise patients themselves who may previously have had to go to another service. The joint efforts of the GPs, alongside the excellent drug worker and pharmacy support, means Swanswell provides excellent service to more people, more efficiently.
91% of Swanswell shared care service users achieve positive outcomes from their treatment. The average across other providers in Birmingham is 88%.
As he presented the award to Swanswell Trustee, Maggie Philbin, Andrew Areoff, Chair of the Judges said: “It gives the judges particular pleasure to recognise the outstanding work that Swanswell does. Their relentless efforts to deliver an excellent customer service could not be more important to the community they serve. In our opinion Swanswell is set to go from strength to strength in 2010 and beyond.”
“The team at Swanswell go the extra mile and it’s great to see this effort being recognised,” said Maggie upon receiving the award.
Debbie Bannigan, Swanswell Chief Executive, said: “Working with others, who have different areas of expertise, gives our clients the best possible chance of leading happier lives.”
