The Lothians & Edinburgh Abstinence Programme (LEAP) has become the first rehabilitation service in Scotland to hire people with lived experience to bridge the gap between community treatment and rehab.
LEAP, run by NHS Lothian and partners, is the only therapeutic community rehabilitation for alcohol and other drug dependencies offered by the NHS in Scotland.
Before the launch of this programme, the service was supported by volunteers with addiction and recovery experience but now officially employees six Peer Bridgers.
Peer Bridgers are people with lived experience of addiction and recovery whose role is to support others through rehabilitation and help improve outcomes.
Recruitment began earlier this year, with the most recent bridger joining in June 2023.
Phil Hayes (54, pictured above being interviewed by BBC Scotland) is one of the new Peer Bridgers now employed by LEAP.
Phil suffered from substance misuse issues earlier in his life but, thanks to a community programme, moved into recovery over 20 years ago.
Since then, he spent several years learning about the behaviours that led to his own issues around addiction.
Phil said: “I think society in general views recovery as either unattainable or a continual hard slog of fighting your inner demons day in, day out. I want to be able to show people that isn’t the case.
“With the right support and guidance, as well as some honest hard work, anyone can move completely into recovery and be both happy and of value within their wider community.
“The peer bridging project allows me, and the rest of the team, to engage with people from the moment they decide to change their lives.
“We can provide continuity of support and guidance for them to build a life for themselves outside of addiction.”
Recently published research has shown that residential rehabilitation programmes, like LEAP, are effective in reducing the use of substances and have a positive impact on the overall health and quality of life of those with substance use issues.
Research also shows that positive changes in behaviour after residential rehabilitation can be maintained over time.
David McCartney, Clinical Lead for LEAP, said: “Tackling Scotland’s drug and alcohol-related deaths and improving outcomes from substance misuse treatments, including residential rehabilitation, is a national priority.
“LEAP is a unique programme in Scotland. In other areas, the road to rehab can be much more complicated so we’re very lucky in Lothian to have this service.
“There are few people in Scotland whose lives are untouched by the harms of addiction, whether experienced by individuals, their families, friends or colleagues – addiction affects us all.
“We support our service- users through medical and psychosocial interventions within a therapeutic community setting, giving individuals an opportunity to heal from trauma and addiction and continuing to support them after treatment.”
LEAP is part of the services provided by the Addiction Treatment and Recovery Care Directorate in NHS Lothian and is delivered in partnership with the City of Edinburgh Council, the Cyrenians, Encompass and Alcohol and Drug Partnerships.
The service is funded thanks to both Scottish Government as well as the Alcohol and Drug Partnerships.
