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Drug and Alcohol Health Integration Team

Drug and Alcohol Health Integration Team

The Drug and Alcohol Health Integration Team (HIT) is a team of public health experts, academics, doctors and other professionals, working together to reduce the harm that can be caused by alcohol and substance use.

Excessive alcohol use is the third leading risk factor for morbidity in Western Europe. Liver disease is the fifth most common cause of death in the UK and is on the increase, primarily caused by excessive drinking and hepatitis C (HCV). Over 85 per cent of HCV in the UK is due to injecting drug use, and opiate-related deaths are a major contributor to premature mortality.

Latest news and events

Treatment for opioid dependence has an important role in suicide prevention

Treatment for opioid dependence has an important role in suicide prevention

16 December 2021

Opioid agonist treatment, commonly methadone or buprenorphine, for people dependent on heroin or other opioid drugs has an important role to play in suicide prevention, according to University of Bristol-led research published in The Lancet Psychiatry.Peo...

Bristol Health Partners conference puts lived experience at heart of health research

Bristol Health Partners conference puts lived experience at heart of health research

14 October 2021

Bristol Health Partners held its annual Conference on Tuesday 12 October 2021. Like last year, the event was held online due to the ongoing pandemic, with more than 110 academics, clinicians, commissioners and others from organisations across Bristol, Sou...

Tobacco and alcohol may increase likelihood of using illegal drugs, new study shows

Tobacco and alcohol may increase likelihood of using illegal drugs, new study shows

30 September 2021

The use of legal drugs (tobacco and alcohol) may lead to the use of cannabis, a new study led by the University of Bristol and published in the journal Addiction has found. The study also found evidence that cannabis use may lead to smoking initiation, an...

Challenging the stigma of opioid substitution treatment at Drug and Alcohol HIT workshop

Challenging the stigma of opioid substitution treatment at Drug and Alcohol HIT workshop

30 July 2021

Bristol Health Partners’ Drug and Alcohol Health Integration Team (HIT) brought together people from across the UK who share an interest in improving opioid substitution treatment (OST) for a workshop on 7 July. Among the attendees were people with liv...

Drug and Alcohol HIT meeting focuses on trauma informed approaches

Drug and Alcohol HIT meeting focuses on trauma informed approaches

23 July 2021

The Drug and Alcohol HIT network met virtually on 30 June 2021. Chair Dr Julian Walker, Director of Research & Development at Avon and Wiltshire Mental Health Partnership NHS Trust, welcomed speakers with lived experience, alongside researchers and pra...

Drug and Alcohol HIT looks back at 2020-21

Drug and Alcohol HIT looks back at 2020-21

20 July 2021

Our Drug and Alcohol HIT co-directors Leonie Roberts, Kyla Thomas, Tim Williams and Jo Kesten look back at 2020-21Drug and alcohol services adapted and evolved in response to COVID-19. Bristol Drugs Project’s (BDP) impact report summarises how they supp...

Opioid agonist treatment could substantially reduce drug related deaths if used more widely

Opioid agonist treatment could substantially reduce drug related deaths if used more widely

2 March 2021

Opioid agonist treatment could substantially reduce drug related deaths if used more widely New evidence that opioid agonists such as methadone and buprenorphine could substantially reduce drug related deaths if more widely used in the community and pris...

Public consultation on Bristol's new Drug and Alcohol Strategy now open

Public consultation on Bristol's new Drug and Alcohol Strategy now open

3 December 2020

A new strategy is being developed to support people with drug and alcohol dependency in Bristol, and limit the impact of addiction on lives and communities across the city. A draft strategy is now ready, which Bristol City Council is asking for feedba...

HIT Conference goes virtual to address the impact of COVID-19 and wider health inequalities

HIT Conference goes virtual to address the impact of COVID-19 and wider health inequalities

20 October 2020

Bristol Health Partners held its annual Health Integration Team (HIT) Conference as an entirely virtual event this year because of the pandemic. The event, “COVID-19 Call to Action: What else can we achieve in health and social care?”, took place b...

Former Bristol Health Partners intern Megan Davies reflects on her unconventional journey into academia

Former Bristol Health Partners intern Megan Davies reflects on her unconventional journey into academia

25 August 2020

Megan completed an internship with Bristol Health Partners in 2018 and has since grown her interest in health inequalities research. She now works as a postdoctoral researcher at Aarhus University looking at mental health and hospital/prescription data...

Drug and Alcohol HIT look back on 2019-20

Drug and Alcohol HIT look back on 2019-20

25 May 2020

Directors of the Drug and Alcohol Health Integration Team (HIT) Dr Kyla Thomas, Thara Raj and Dr Tim Williams reflect on the HIT’s work in the past year. During the last year, HIT members have been working together to develop evidence-based services to...

Drug and Alcohol HIT event explore new ways to support people with prescription opioid dependence

Drug and Alcohol HIT event explore new ways to support people with prescription opioid dependence

16 March 2020

On Wednesday, 4 March 2020, the Drug and Alcohol Health Integration Team (HIT) brought together service providers, service users, researchers and commissioners to discuss how to address prescription opioid dependence in Bristol, North Somerset and South G...

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Sexual Health Improvement Programme (SHIP)
Psychosis
Eating Disorders

Our partners

Bristol City Council
North Somerset Council
South Gloucestershire Council
University of Bristol
University of the West of England
Sirona
NHS
Avon and Wiltshire Mental Health Partnership NHS Trust
Bristol, North Somerset and South Gloucestershire Clinical Commissioning Group
NHS Blood and Transplant
North Bristol NHS Trust
University Hospitals Bristol and Weston NHS Foundation Trust
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