THE Wiltshire Community Safety Partnership has appointed health and social care provider Turning Point to deliver a recovery service for those battling drug and alcohol problems.

Turning Point will be working closely with commissioners to ensure the new service is up and running by April 1 next year.

It will be branded the Wiltshire Substance Misuse Service and will replace the current providers to give a single point of contact, with the aim of making it easier for those individuals needing this help. Wiltshire Council, on behalf of the Wiltshire Community Safety Partnership, tendered for a new integrated substance misuse service in August 2012.

All of the bids have been scored by an evaluation panel, which included senior representatives from the council, NHS Wiltshire, Wiltshire Probation Trust and the Wiltshire Addiction Support Project.

Turning Point has a track record of delivering effective drug and alcohol services in other parts of the country and is proposing a new integrated, recovery focused model of delivery for Wiltshire.

Maggie Rae, chairman of the Wiltshire Community Safety Partnership, said: “Providing high quality treatment services for drugs and alcohol is vital in helping individuals, families and communities to improve health well and wellbeing.

“Our treatment services in Wiltshire have proven difficult for people to navigate due to the number of different providers we have had. Our move to an integrated service will improve both efficiencies and the outcomes for those who need support. It’s an exciting time for us.”

Commissioners will be working closely with both Turning Point and existing providers to facilitate as smooth a transition as possible from existing provision to the new model ready for the start of the new service in April 2013.