2. Evidence from WY-FI Addiction and multiple needs
Mark Crowe
WY-FI Research and Evaluation Co-ordinator
September 2016

3. What is WY-FI?
WY-FI works across West Yorkshire in the districts of Bradford, Calderdale, Kirklees, Leeds and Wakefield
WY-FI works with Adults not engaging effectively with or excluded from services who experience at least 3 of the following:
Homelessness
Addiction (problematic substance misuse)
Re-offending behaviour
Mental ill health
WY-FI supports people who are not engaging effectively with services and are experiencing entrenched needs in at least three of the following HARM areas:
Homelessness
Addiction
Reoffending
Mental ill health
WY-FI does not deliver services but works with existing local services to co-ordinate and work together effectively to fully meet individual needs in a person-centred and co-ordinated way via a Multi-Agency Review Board.

4. What difference does WY-FI make?
Other results from the Insight Survey show the difference that having Navigator support makes to an individual’s experience of services.

5. WY-FI beneficiaries profile (gender)
Locality
Total caseload
(351 starts;
309 detailed data)
SUSSAR Info
Male total
Female total
Bradford 75 71 49 22
Calderdale 56 53 31
Kirklees 40 24 16
Leeds
103
102 72 30
Wakefield 46 43 26 17

6. WY-FI beneficiaries profile (ethnicity)
Locality
English
Other
Not Known
Bradford 45
19% 12 5% 18 8%
Calderdale 43 11 2 1%
Kirklees 31
13% 5 2% 4
Leeds 79
34% 10 4% 14 6%
Wakefield 33
14% 1 0%
Total
231 39 50

7. Number of people with addiction needs by age and locality
18 to 24
25 to 34
35 to 44
45 to 54
55 to 64
65 and over
Bradford 5 20 23 11 3 1
Calderdale 12 22 13 2
Kirklees 15 7
Leeds 4 35 32 19
Wakefield 10 9

8. Percentage of people engaging with addiction services by age and locality
18 to 24
25 to 34
35 to 44
45 to 54
55 to 64
65 and over
Bradford
40%
35%
52%
45% 0%
Calderdale
20%
25%
41%
31%
Kirklees
33%
60%
42%
29%
67%
Leeds
63%
21%
14%
Wakefield
50%
56%

9. WY-FI beneficiaries need and contact with services
Locality
Males with addiction
need
Males in contact with addiction services
Females with addiction
Females in contact with addiction services
Percentage males in contact with addiction services
Percentage females in contact with addiction services
Bradford 40 16 21 10
40%
48%
Calderdale 30 22 7
33%
32%
Kirklees 24 12
50%
44%
Leeds 69 18 29 19
26%
66%
Wakefield 25 15
60%
47%
Not everyone who needs support, makes it to an addiction service. The proportions vary from district to district but there are typically between a third and a half of beneficiaries experiencing addiction who do not access addiction services. WY-FI looked at an area where there was a very low proportion of males experiencing addiction who had not received a service. Reasons for low levels of recorded engagement, even with navigator support, included:
Working with people who were acknowledged locally as never having, nor ever likely, to engage with addiction services
Individuals being recalled to prison prior to attending their first appointment
Individuals dying prior to attending their first appointment
Individuals not having attended their first appointment at the point of the data snapshot
Individuals disengaging from WY-FI but subsequently attending appointments at addiction services

10. Percentage of male beneficiaries with dual diagnosis - service engagement
Locality
Contact with addiction service
Contact with mental health service
Contact with both addiction and mental health services
Bradford
39%
13%
Calderdale
33%
20%
10%
Kirklees
52%
17%
Leeds
26%
18%
11%
Wakefield
63%
42%
38%
 People experiencing dual diagnosis tend to have much more access to addiction services than mental health services, certainly in the early stages of treatment.

11. Percentage of female beneficiaries with dual diagnosis - service engagement
Locality
Contact with addiction service
Contact with mental health service
Contact with both addiction and mental health services
Bradford
53%
11% 5%
Calderdale
32%
41%
14%
Kirklees
44%
19% 6%
Leeds
67%
Wakefield
47%
40%
13%
People experiencing dual diagnosis tend to have much more access to addiction services than mental health services, certainly in the early stages of treatment.

12. As you would expect, referrals to WY-FI of people with addictions come from a wide range of sources as number of different agencies have a stake in the individual’s recovery. The ten most frequent referrers are shown in the chart above. One of the most notable referrers to WY-FI are addiction services themselves (34% of WY-FI referrals) indicating that there is a proportion of their own clientele that they can’t engage with or are too chaotic or risky to work with, without a navigator.

13. Useful links
Office for National Statistics Deaths related to drug poisoning in England and Wales
The Guardian Our neglect of ageing heroin users has fuelled the rise of drug related deaths
BBC Drug related deaths reach record levels in England and Wales
Lankelly Chase Hard Edges: Mapping severe and multiple disadvantage in England
Recent media reports highlighting the increased death rate of drugs service users for example in the Guardian and BBC demonstrate the change in the demographic profile of drugs services’ clients. Reasons for the increased death rate include: increasing age of drug services’ clients (particularly opiate users) and the additional health problems attributed to their drug use or lifestyle since the 1980s and 1990s (the last “waves” of heroin epidemic in the UK).

14. Any Questions?
wy-fi.org.uk