In October the Office for National Statistics published the latest statistics for drug-related deaths in 2019, showing – yet again – a record year in almost a decade of increasing deaths and an appalling picture of human loss and suffering.

People who have drug or alcohol problems face disproportionate health inequalities, frailty, and premature morbidity in general. Highly vulnerable people too often fall through cracks in healthcare provision which don’t address the full complexity of an individual’s overall health needs.

And when someone does die, are the systems of care around that person sufficiently able to review and learn from the circumstances around the death or give the necessary time and space for the people connected to the individuals – friends, family and workers – to process what has happened?

Through presentations and panel discussions, this webinar will:

• Shine a light beyond drug poisonings to try to illuminate a wider picture of risk and mortality
• Highlight system responses to mortality from across substance misuse and wider fields to explore how systems are better equipped to learn and evolve

Confirmed speakers include:

• Steve Moffatt, Senior Policy Manager at the Make Every Adult Matter Coalition, presenting new research on mortality and multiple disadvantage
• April Wareham, Director at Working with Everyone, sharing her research with marginalised communities and peer experiences of death and bereavement
• Mike Ward, Senior Consultant at Alcohol Change UK, presenting his analysis of alcohol related Safeguarding Adult Reviews

• Steve Taylor, Programme Manager at Public Health England - Alcohol, Drugs, Tobacco & Justice, providing an overview of drug-related deaths and the wider context
• Dee Menezes, Data Scientist at the UCL Insititute of Health Infomatics, presenting research on causes of death among homeless people looking at hospitalisation and mortality data in England.
• Oliver Standing, Director of Collective Voice, offering reflections and possible next steps.

The webinar will be chaired by Laura Bunt, Deputy Chief Executive of We Are With You and Vice-Chair of Collective Voice.

More will be added in the coming weeks.

If you have any questions please contact peter@collectivevoice.org.uk.