About WISMS

WISMS NHS is a component service of Wakefield District Community Health Care Services, and is a key part of a multi agency partnership (Wakefield Integrated Substance Misuse Services) which includes the third sector, (Turning Point, Crime Reduction Initiatives), South West Yorkshire Partnership Foundation Trust, the Local Authority and criminal justice organisations in the Wakefield District. WISMS NHS was established 4 years ago.

A shining example of partnership work is Wakefield Integrated Substance Misuse Service (WISMS). This is a key multi-agency partnership including the PCT, South West Yorkshire Partnership NHS Foundation Trust, Wakefield Council, third sector and criminal justice organisations. It provides treatment and care for substance misusers and offenders (adults and young people) working directly with and on behalf of GPs. Recently it beat off national competition to run a new Integrated Care Pilot (ICP). The pilot is investigating ways in which health and social care can work together to make improvements to health and wellbeing. WISMS NHS has also been given the go ahead to become one of twenty projects in England taking the first steps to becoming a social enterprise.

WISMS NHS provides treatment and care for substance misusers and offenders (adults and young people) working directly with and on behalf of GPs. The service includes primary care and substance misuse provision into HMP/YOI New Hall and HMP Wakefield (Integrated Drug Treatment System), and services for people dually diagnosed with mental health and substance misuse needs.

WISMS teams organogram

WISMS (NHS) comprises:

• A clinical directorate comprising clinical director, business manager and secretariat.
• senior nursing advice, support and quality assurance provided by the Nurse Consultant in Dual Diagnosis (South West Yorkshire Mental Health Trust) who champions and coordinates dual diagnosis services across the treatment system
• salaried and GPwSI workforce supporting specialist community prescribing working on conjunction with care coordinators and therapists
• shared care practitioner team who support and manage the local shared care scheme provided in conjunction with 14 practices across the Wakefield
• specialist nurse liaison team comprising specialist health visitor, social worker, midwife responsible for an integrated safeguarding care pathway and acute trust liaison nurse supporting substance misusers admitted to hospital who need support with the management of acute withdrawal, ensuring safe discharge and seamless links with community services
• nurse led physical health and well being support team comprising band 6 nurses trained in substance misuse who deliver a number of pathways that target health related complications (BBV, Wound management) and provide interventions that tackle the determinants of ill health
• An alcohol team comprising a specialist nurse practitioner, three primary care liaison nurses, three specialist community alcohol treatment workers, an assertive tier 4 worker supporting patients with severe complexity and two criminal justice treatment workers who administer the alcohol treatment requirement in conjunction with offender managers District
• The service is commissioned and provided in partnership with various organisations including Turning Point, Crime Reduction Initiatives (Cri), South West Yorkshire Mental Health Trust (SWYT), Wakefield Metropolitan District Council, West Yorkshire Police, and West Yorkshire Probation Service.

Services under development include:

• Psychosocial interventions service headed up by senior therapists
• GP with a Special interest in mental health to be deployed into the soon to be established Improving Access to Psychological Therapies Service
• Integrated Drug Treatment Services to HMP Wakefield
• Implementation of a safeguarding stepped care pathway supported by the WISMS Family Support Team ( midwife, social worker and health visitor)