Early this year we headed to Middlesbrough to meet the pioneering and inspirational Daniel Ahmed who has led the way in setting up a Heroin Assisted Treatment clinic in Middlesbrough (the North East currently record the highest levels of drug related deaths in England).

Heroin Assisted Treatment involves registered patients receiving medical-grade heroin as part of their treatment (patients are often those who haven’t responded to other treatments). Patients will attend a clinic once or twice a day and use their prescription on site, under medical supervision. 

In this short film Daniel explains a bit more about this treatment, why he was keen to introduce it, how he went about getting the clinic set up and the impact of this initiative on the local area.

“We’ve seen transformation on many levels. We’ve seen individuals who’ve gone from that chaotic picture of substance use to getting their first flat, to getting engaged, to starting to manage their own finances”

To find out more about Heroin Assisted Treatment please visit this page.