I arrived at ‘Pinel House’ regional alcoholic unit, Warlingham Park, Surrey, on the 27th October 1976. It was a remarkable institution, founded in 1952 by Dr Max Glatt, in the grounds of a psychiatric hospital.’Pinel’ was run by the NHS. At that time there was no other treatment service in the UK. Alcoholics Anonymous arrived in the UK in 1948.
Referrals came from all over the country, and on Tuesday afternoons there was an open clinic.
Pinel House closed it’s doors in 1993,when the Care in the community act was established, heralding the closure of all the psychiatric hospitals in the UK.
I was a Care Manager in the 90’s for Croydon and other London boroughs. This involved assessing clients for treatment in tier 4 services,(Residential Rehab). Since then the situation has worsened, many treatment centres in the public sector have closed due to government cutbacks.
However, now, residential treatment is available, through the Substance Misuse team, or an alcohol/drug service in your local borough, such as CGL (Change, Grow Live) Turning Point, and Phoenix Futures.
If anyone is having difficulty, or have questions regarding accessing services, please contact me at jim@recoverytoday.co.uk
Jim
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