Figure 8 firmly believes that addiction services require well-trained, well-supported and highly-valued staff capable of meeting the needs of some of the most vulnerable people in society.

This view is support by the Scottish Advisory Committee on Drug Misuse which believes that the effective provision of substance misuse treatment is ‘wholly dependent on having a competent, supported workforce able to deliver all relevant interventions’ (Essential Care, SACDM, 2008, p14) and features as a priority in the Scottish Government’s Drugs Strategy, “The Road to Recovery” (Scottish Government, 2008, p61).

Service users expect and deserve high quality treatment services that are reliable and able to respond to their individual needs based on evidence of best practice. That is why Figure 8 promotes ‘Evidence into Practice’ as its key mission statement based on the philosophy that the policy and planning cycle of government and commissioning bodies requires to inform, and be informed by, the practice and audit cycle of service providers in a continuous figure of 8. Therefore, based on evidence of best practice in workforce development, Figure 8 aims to assist the development of a competent, confident and valued workforce by providing guidance, training and support on workforce development issues for workers, managers and commissioners.

Figure 8 is passionate about equipping those who work in the substance misuse field with the skills, knowledge, understanding and support they require to deliver what is expected of them, and offers management development and mentoring programmes tailored to the needs of services. In addition, ‘training the trainer’ programmes are an integral option within Figure 8’s workforce development packages to enable organisations to nurture quality learning from within.

Figure 8 is also experienced in conducting comprehensive service evaluations with the aim of providing independent evidence and comment regarding the work undertaken by services and their current human resource management and human resource development strategies, policies and plans.