Wrexham’s Substance Misuse Action Team (SMAT) is a subsidiary of Wrexham Community Safety Partnership (CSP) which was established as a requirement of the Crime and Disorder Act (1998). The purpose of the SMAT is to implement the Welsh Substance Misuse Strategy “Working Together to Reduce Harm” (2008-2018) on a local level. The 4 aims of this strategy are as follows:

1) Preventing Harm
2) Support for substance misusers- to improve their health and aid and maintain recovery
3) Supporting and Protecting Families
4) Tackling availability and protecting individuals and communities via enforcement activity

Wrexham SMAT itself is a multi-agency partnership, depending crucially on input from a number of organisations:

• Wrexham Local Health Board (to become part of the New North Wales Health Organisation)
• Wrexham County Borough Council (including Children and Young People’s Department, Housing, Social Services etc)
• North Wales Police
• North East Wales NHS Trust (to become part of the new North Wales Health Organisation)
• North Wales Probation Service
• Association of Voluntary Organisations in Wrexham (AVOW)
• Service User representation

The SMATs remit is to make informed joint decisions on the commissioning of substance misuse (both drug and alcohol) services and initiatives to deliver on the substance misuse strategy in the local area. This is supported by the Substance Misuse Action Plan Fund administered by the Welsh Assembly Government.

In 2005, the SMAT carried out a major review of service user needs and service provision. This identified a number of gaps in services for both adults and young people and the need to establish coherence across services. Over the past three years, the SMAT, its officers and service managers have implemented a major programme of reconfiguration, which has resulted in the formation of a new integrated adult service providing both drop in sessions and more structured treatment, located in The Elms, in Wrexham town. In addition, there has been the formation of a new young people’s service “In 2 Change” based in the town centre which provides information, advice and support for young people aged 11 to 18 years.

Following this work the SMAT have also undertaken to develop a new Commissioning Strategy for the period 08-11, this has updated the original needs assessment and identified current gaps in order to outline the priorities for spend over the next 3 years.

For a list of services in Wrexham please click here.