Posted on: 15 June, 2022
Drug and harm reduction pioneer, Danny Ahmed, has joined the social justice charity Cranstoun as their new Clinical Director.
Danny, a registered mental health nurse and psychotherapist, has led England’s first Heroin Assisted Treatment programme in Middlesbrough since its inception in 2019 will be taking up the new role imminently.
The new post will see him work to unify all of the clinical services that Cranstoun offer and to continue to embed harm reduction practices in the charity’s services for people who use alcohol and other drugs.
Danny started his clinical career in 1997 and focused immediately on working with and supporting people who use drugs. Danny as mental health nurse prescriber and integrative psychotherapist has supported people who use drugs both medically and psychologically developing services that meet the needs of people who use drugs and working clinically with individuals and with groups to reduce the harms that people can face through problematic drug use.
Danny is proud to have introduced same day Opioid Substitution Treatment prescribing, near fatal overdose outreach teams alongside interventions such as psychodynamic group therapy, DBT skills and Social Behaviour Network Therapy. Danny continues to be an advocate of service provision that meets the needs of people who use drugs ‘where they are at’ and advocates for the widespread introduction of interventions such as overdose prevention sites.
In recent years, Danny has led the Middlesbrough Heroin Assisted Treatment project, alongside providing health focused harm reduction services through his specialist GP practice Foundations working with some of the most vulnerable people who use drugs in the town to help them turn their lives around.
Announcing the appointment, Charlie Mack, Chief Executive at Cranstoun said: “Danny brings a huge wealth of expertise and decades of experience in reducing harm and deaths caused by drugs.
“He has led the way with his Heroin Assisted Treatment programme
“Danny will be a real asset to helping us to continue to drive world class change in our services and support the work we are doing to launch new treatment options and the UK’s first Overdose Prevention Centre.”
Danny will also continue to work as a clinical partner at foundations alongside his clinical director role at Cranstoun.
Danny Ahmed said: “I’m really excited to be joining Cranstoun at what is a critical time for everyone working with people who use drugs to reduce harm and save lives.
“What I see at Cranstoun is a real movement in harm reduction, to innovate and be bold in what we do. It’s a real honour to be joining an organisation which is so forward thinking and ready to do whatever it takes to support people.”