April 2022 to March 2023, the Manchester Dual Diagnosis Liaison Service (MDDLS), run by Greater Manchester Mental Health NHS Trust (GMMH), in partnership with Manchester City Council, supported over 250 Manchester residents with co-occurring mental health and substance use problems to receive the right health and social care support.
The MDDLS also provided training to almost 1,500 cross-sector health and social care staff, including those from both community and inpatient mental health services, homeless services, and addictions services.
The term ‘dual diagnosis’ refers to the experience of multiple health challenges, such as mental health problems alongside addiction to, or misuse of, alcohol or other substances. It can also be known as Co-occurring Mental Health, Alcohol and Drugs (COMHAD).
A dual diagnosis can have a huge impact in all aspects of someone’s life such as housing and employment. Having multiple health needs like this can also mean people ‘slip through the gaps’ between different services, and experience real barriers to accessing the right health support to address them.
The MDDLS removes these barriers by providing support to front line staff through advice and consultation. This could include advice around the types of care or treatment that may work best for someone; or bringing different services together to discuss and agree a plan of action to meet someone’s multiple needs together.
The MDDLS also provides training for health and social care staff to help them better understand the link between mental health and substance use and how they can best support individuals who experience it.
The MDDLS works across Manchester, with a number of cross-sector partners including: the community addiction service for Manchester, Change Grow Live; Manchester City Council’s Adult Social Work and Substance Misuse teams; community organisations such as Centrepoint (a youth homelessness charity) and MASH; and a range of community and inpatient mental health services.
Through this support, in 2022/23, MDDLS worked with partners to support over 250 people with a dual diagnosis with their recovery journey; and trained almost 1,500 health and social care professionals.
James, whose partner Luke* was supported by the Manchester Dual Diagnosis Liaison Service said:
“At the start of lockdown, a number of stressful events caused my partner Luke’s mental health to take a turn for the worse. He experienced psychosis – seeing and hearing things that weren’t there – he was suicidal. His coping mechanism became drinking alcohol, and this spiralled.
“It was clear that he needed help, but we really struggled to access the right support for him. When we reached out to crisis services, they just saw his problems with alcohol, rather than the mental health problems that were triggering it – no one seemed to ask ‘why’ or know how best to support him.
“Luckily, things started to change when we were referred to the Manchester Dual Diagnosis Liaison service. They made sure that Luke received a proper, in-depth assessment. They advocated for him made recommendations for the right care and support from mental health, addiction and social services. They set up regular joint meetings with these services, which I also attended, meaning I could fight Luke’s corner and help them understand and learn from past experiences. Luke was then able to progress to an inpatient addiction treatment centre, where he was supported to achieve abstinence from alcohol by learning to process and cope with his past trauma and mental health struggles.
“Luke has now been sober for nine months. His mental health is much better – he’s on the right medication and he has the tools he needs to deal with his past trauma, and process it. Luke’s an amazing dad to our children, and he’s planning to start work again soon. I can honestly say that the MDDLS saved Luke’s life – he wouldn’t be here without your help. Everyone should have this support, right from the beginning. Thank you for everything.”
