Service Manager for Oasis Kim Synclair has responded to our article on monday regarding possible redundancies at the centre in the High Street centre.
Kim said: “The decision to award the contract has yet to be made and is before the Council’s Cabinet on 17th Feb, so until that decision is made nothing, in theory, has changed.
However, a re-tender has indeed taken place and the contract value is lower than the current year, reflecting an anticipated reduction in the funding from the NTA for drug and drug/alcohol work.
The funding for alcohol-only work is separate from this and comes from the PCT. It is not being reduced and the alcohol worker post it supports is unaffected. In terms of staff changes there has been a reallocation of roles to make the service more efficient.
As a consequence, some redundancies have taken place, regrettably. None of these deliver exclusively alcohol treatment. All the remaining staff will deliver alcohol treatment as well as drug treatment.
This is a level of service unequalled in the rest of Essex and is in place because of the recognition of the need for effective alcohol treatment.
The service users’ representatives have been fully briefed on all these changes and the reasons why they have taken place.
