Addiction service 'not fit for purpose'

A former mayor of Shrewsbury has said she is on a mission to highlight the lack of addiction support in Shropshire following the death of her daughter.

Jane Mackenzie's daughter, Amy Jane Liebich, died in May 2019 after living with alcohol addiction for "a long time".

Ms Mackenzie has accepted undisclosed damages from the previous operators of Shropshire Recovery Partnership for failings in her daughter's care.

Shropshire Recovery Partnership, which is now run by a different provider, said it was sorry to learn about the experience that Amy’s family had.

Amy first sought help with alcohol issues while she was a student, and repeatedly asked the Shropshire Recovery Partnership for detox programmes and appropriate treatment.

Ms Mackenzie said her daughter needed a mental health assessment to understand the root cause of her addiction, but nothing was offered.

"Amy was powerless to stop her drinking, and she knew it was killing her," Ms Mackenzie said.

"She was desperate for help, but she was not given it. In fact, local services withdrew their support, and left her to suffer."

Ms Mackenzie said the partnership "insisted" on discharging her from their service if she missed more than one appointment, leaving her "back at square one" trying to get help.

“It almost felt like they were setting her up to fail. People with addiction lead chaotic lives – they lose their phones, forget to charge them, have to rely on public transport," she said.

She claimed members of the team had "little or no experience" supporting people with alcohol addiction, with Amy no longer seeing the point in going back.

"It wasn’t just the lack of support. They actually prevented her from getting the help she needed because they refused to refer her to the services and experts who could have helped her," she said.

Ms Mackenzie said: "Amy was my dearest friend, my soulmate, and magical company"

Ms Mackenzie also said the group's practitioners told the family they had to allow Amy to hit rock bottom before she could be helped.

She said: "Her younger sister followed that advice and cut contact with Amy, and then Amy died.

"Her sister is now traumatised because in the six months before her death she wasn’t there for her. She will never get that time back.

“Amy’s family, who were in the best position to understand and support her, were basically told to stay away.”

"The pain of her loss never goes away, and it is made even worse by knowing that she did not need to die," Ms Mackenzie said

System 'failing people'

Ms Mackenzie now runs Share Shrewsbury, a charity that supports anyone in the town dealing with alcohol addiction, as well as raising awareness of the risks associated with alcohol.

"I hear time and time again from people who are suffering with alcohol addiction and nothing is changing – if anything, it is getting worse," she said.

"The system isn’t fit for purpose and is failing the very people it was set up to serve."

A spokesperson from Shropshire Recovery Partnership said it was "committed to providing care to meet the needs of individuals across Shropshire."

Since changing lead providers, the group said it was rated as outstanding for care by the Care Quality Commission and had an overall rating of good.

The group said: "We strongly encourage feedback from anyone who accesses our service so that we can work closely with our clients to make any necessary changes and improvements."

Ms Mackenzie said: "I just want Amy’s voice to be heard. She didn’t need to die, and there are many more people who will die because nothing has changed."

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