Drug Health Services

Our Drug Health Service helps you with the management of substance use.

Where to find this service

Caroline Springs Community Health Centre

What we do

Our Drug Health Service helps you with the management of substance use. The service offers residential and non-residential community programs, and hospital-based alcohol and other drug treatment programs.

As well as community Alcohol and Other Drugs (AOD) programs, we offer Addiction Medicine Services to the community and within the Western Health hospital in-patient network.

Our service aims to:

reduce harm
help you determine the pace and type of change you are seeking
provide a supportive environment where your treatment options are evidence-based and matched to your needs.

We also provide the Dual diagnosis and mental health unit at Westside Lodge. This unit offers a three-month-long therapeutic program for people experiencing problematic drug or alcohol use, as well as mental health issues. For more information, please visit our Dual diagnosis drug and mental health unit: Westside Lodge page.

Services and facilities

Most of the services are free, except the women's residential program, which has a small weekly fee. If you are going on the Methadone/ Buprenorphine program, you will need to be able to pay for your medications (around $5 per day) at your local participating pharmacy.

Assessments

If you are coming for an assessment, you will need to provide:

your Medicare number
your medications and how often you take them
your doctor's details and pharmacy details
any other professionals working with you
your history of when you started taking drugs and how much and how long for
any legal issues you need to resolve or attend to.

Your doctor, family and employer

We like to work with your usual doctor to make sure we are not giving you medications that might be dangerous for you or taking you off medications that your doctor wants you to stay on. If you have issues with this, speak to your counsellor to try to work through the issues.

If you do want us to work with your family or partner or support person, we can involve them in your treatment. If you have a child who you would like to have treatment, but they do not want treatment, you can come in and see one of our counsellors. They can help you with the stress of the situation.

You do not need to tell your employer. If you require a certificate for work, you might want to obtain this from your own GP.

Home visits

We offer some programs where you can be visited by nurses or outreach workers in your home; at your doctor's rooms; or some other mutually convenient place. Ask you counsellor if you are eligible.

Detox unit

If you are coming in to stay in one of the residential programs you need to bring:

comfortable clothes to last you for about a week
your toiletries
Medicare card or number
your GP's details and pharmacy details if you are on medication.

There are clothes washing facilities so you can wash things if you need to. A small amount of cash can be handy to spend on outings, but there is a maximum of $50 allowed. If you smoke, bring in enough cigarettes in sealed packs.

Don't bring in valuable jewellery, iPods, iPads or other personal devices, laptops, or other electrical equipment. There are hairdryers and straighteners for use in the unit if you require. Mobile phones or pagers must be given to staff and will be given back to you upon discharge.

No sharp objects, such as razors, scissors, and knives, are allowed into the unit.

Consumer Participation Advisory Group (CPAG)

Our Consumer Participation Advisory Group is a group of consumers and staff. Their aim is to raise consumer views and feedback about service improvements and service operations. The group also contributes to the service planning and development process.

The group:

provides advice and consultation to staff and management around new projects, programs or policies
reviews consumer feedback and suggestions from consumers
oversees the feedback back to consumers
coordinates a series of events throughout the year.

Membership is open to present and past service users and their families.

A meeting is held once a month on the last Thursday of the month from 12-1pm. (NOTE: where?) Members are welcome to come and share lunch while discussing the current relevant issues for the service. If you wish to know more about the group, contact the group coordinator.

Feedback

We want to improve how we do things, so your feedback is valuable.

You can fill out a feedback form and place it in one of our suggestion boxes.

We review these suggestions and feedback forms regularly and the Consumer Participation Advisory Group reviews the feedback quarterly. We provide information back to you around the changes made. This information will be through posters and signs on the Consumers Noticeboard at each site.

We also do surveys and focus groups on specific topics. We call for people who are interested in taking part in these. We will post information about the next survey or focus group up on the Consumer Noticeboard at each site.

Other services

For further information on our Drug Health Services, please visit the following:

Services for adults

Services for young people

Who this service is for

The service has programs catering to both youth and adults. It also provides specialist programs for women and if you are a person with co-morbid AOD and mental health care needs.

Referrals

For some programs you need a referral.

We like to know who your usual GP is and what other workers or case managers you might have so we can work together with them.

Our psychologists can see you under Medicare if you are referred by your GP through a 'Mental Health Care Plan'.

For referrals to Alcohol and Drug Services at Melton and Caroline Springs call the North-West Metro Melbourne Central Intake and Assessment Line on 1800 700 514.

For referrals to Alcohol and Drug Services at Moorabool Shire call the Grampians Central Intake and Assessment Line on 1300 022 760 or via email: [email protected]