ABSTRACT
At the start of the UK's COVID-19 lockdown, the government announced an 'Everyone In' strategy to get homeless people off the streets and into accommodation. An Inner London borough opened a hotel to house up to 100 homeless people to address their health needs. Local healthcare providers were asked to provide in-reach services. This article describes the setting up and delivery of a drug treatment service to provide substitute opioid therapy. Thirty-five people were taken into drug treatment in the hotel between April and December 2020. During this time various challenges had to be addressed including same-day prescribing, delivering and supervising controlled drugs and responding to drug dealing in the hotel. Partnership work between the different healthcare providers was essential for the success of this project and offers a model that could be used going forward to deliver comprehensive wrap-around services to hard-to-engage individuals with multiple health needs.