Difficulties facing prison substance misuse worker role
RECRUITMENT difficulties that have hit a role to help prisoners cope with drug problems have been partly blamed on the funding available for the position.
Tracey Rear, business manager of Drug Concern, which recruits and manages the prison substance- misuse worker post, said it was hoping to increase continuity in the position in future and keep the current job holder, recruited from the UK, for their entire five-year licence.
She said one of the key issues in the past had been a lack of people available with the required skills locally, who would take the post on the current salary.
'We have managed to get a five-year licence now for this post, but the skills needed to deliver the post historically have been difficult to find on the scale of money we have to pay people,' Ms Rear, pictured, said.
'It is getting strongly skilled staff from the local population with the financial resources we have – that is the issue we have had.'
