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Part 1:  Prelude to pre-rehabilitation.

1. ​

   B.A.C. The O'Connor Centre, Clayton Road Newcastle under Lyme

As alcohol dependency and drug abuse grows in North Staffordshire so does the number of people who need more specialised help and support.  The B.A.C.The O'Connor centre in Clayton road, Newcastle can provide that support.  Opened in 1998 the O'Connor has gained numerous awards including a Healthcare Commission score of excellent-the highest in the country.

being lucky enough to be given the chance to research the workings of the O' Connor Centre in depth from the inside out over a two month period has enabled this story to be relayed with some accuracy.  however, this undertaking was some months ago, so policy could have slightly changed accordingly.

It has also to be said that there is another wing of the O'Connor in Burton on Trent which is the sort of the head quarters and offers the same facility but with extras like resident doctors and medical staff.  This is the ideal solution if a couple are both substance abusers.  In that they would not be allowed to enter the same rehabilitation centre together.  they would be split up; one would go to Burton and one to Newcastle.

If you are ready to stop consuming alcohol there are some things you should know, the most important of which, do not just stop if you are drinking heavily.  you need to see your doctor for advice, where you could be referred to hospital for detoxification or 'detox' if you were opting for rehab in Newcastle.  In hospital you will be treated before you enter rehabilitation. 

Addictions are not just alcohol based.  one can be addicted to opiates (including Heroin) cannabis and even prescription drugs.  whatever ones poison, many residents who enter the O'Connor Centre are at the juncture of a life and death situation.   

And those who are binge drinking most nights or using drugs recreationally are on the precipice of full blown addiction. that is how endemic the situation is; those predisposed will always progress into the inevitable fall of drug/drink addled mayhem. 

After seeing your doctor you will be referred to a social worker who you will meet locally.  Rehab is not just a preserve of the rich and famous. The social worker will then apply for funding from the local authority which can cost in excess of £500 per week for your stay at the O'Connor Centre.  your programme in rehab will last for some four months. 

however, if you were claiming ESA before you enter you will carry on being in receipt of it.  The same applies to Housing Benefit.   you will also be charged some £25 towards the cost of your stay including your meals, which you will pay into the office.  Some residents leave the O'Connor owing rent.

Initially, one used to turn up at the O'Connor in Clayton Road for an informal pre-rehab group meeting on a Thursday afternoon at 1pm.  Here, other people with substance abuse problems would be present, some under the influence.  Many will already know the mechanisms of the Alcohol Anonymous (AA) meetings in some detail.  The AA and NA (Narcotics Anonymous) will be expanded on in more detail later in this report.

It must be said that one would have to push their case to the duty staff member at pre-rehab to secure a place at the centre if they were serious about coming off substances.

A current resident of the Centre will co-chair the meeting with the staff member.  This enables those present to ask any questions they see fit regarding the Centre.  most questions revolve around the fact that if one can have their mobile phone during the stay-they cannot.  Other questions include visiting times-which were/are for a couple of hours a week on a Saturday morning.  

A special visit in the week is available in exceptional circumstances which will have to be granted from a therapist.  another frequent question is that if one can access TV on a regular basis.  TV is limited to 2 hours a night and on special occasions.

Visits are not allowed for any resident in the first few weeks.  however, once one is allowed visitors that visitor can take the resident away from the compound for the duration if they so choose. 

Day care is also an option.  On Day Care one comes to the O'Connor during working hours some five days a week and Saturday mornings.  In other words they do not live in, can keep their mobile phones and they go home on an evening.  Technically this can allow one to drink (or to take some drugs that do not stay long in the system) on a Saturday evening.  then they will not have to supply a breath test on Sunday and so can then pass the breath test on the Monday Morning.

At this point it must be said that some entering rehab are doing so due to a court order or to regain custody of their children.  This category can sometimes think of some ingenious methods to smuggle drugs into the centre.  This will be expanded on at a later date.

Tomorrow on the Sentinel Website:  Part 2. Entering rehab: the dignified strip search

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