Ru-ok – the young person’s substance misuse service
Ru-ok is the substance misuse service for young people under 18 in Brighton and Hove. It sits within the Children and Young People’s Trust, a partnership between Brighton and Hove City Council and Brighton and Hove City NHS, and is staffed by a team of youth, health and social care professionals. The service has a remit to support young people (and their families) where there are complex concerns around a young person’s use of drugs, alcohol or legal highs.
Ru-ok provides a range of tailored one-to-one interventions for young people and offers support to concerned family members or consultation for professionals. Between April 2009 and March 2010, a total of 219 young people received specialist substance misuse treatment from Ru-ok and the team provided almost 100 hours of consultation and advice for parents, carers and practitioners.
The service also works directly with staff at Brighton and Sussex University Hospitals to provide a care pathway for young people who present at A&E where drug or alcohol use has been a factor. Ru-ok and hospital staff meet weekly to discuss those young people who have raised concerns and, where appropriate, Ru-ok will contact the young person and their parents / carers to offer them a brief intervention or advice. This pathway ensures that young people (and their families) are offered support around their substance use and aims to prevent young people’s use of drugs and alcohol from becoming problematic or entrenched. Over the last year, Ru-ok has worked with 144 young people and their families in this way.
If you’d like to refer a young person to the Ru-ok service, or you’d like some advice about whether to make a referral, just call 293966. To find out more about the service please visit www.ruokservice.co.uk or ring for a chat. A member of the Ru-ok team can also come and talk to your practice about the work that it does – please call or email (details below) to request this.
Ru-ok is open Monday to Friday, 9.30am – 5.00pm (9.00 – 4.30pm on Fridays).Telephone: 01273 293966Fax: 01273 293968Email: ru-ok@brighton-hove.gov.ukWeb: www.ruokservice.co.uk