A senior Wrexham Council figure is urging health board bosses to do more to tackle new psychoactive substances.

Cllr Hugh Jones, deputy leader of the council, has written to the chief executive and chairman of Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board, calling for more support in dealing with the problem.

He said: “We’re all aware of those concerns which have been raised around the use of new psychoactive substances, or NPS, in Wrexham.

“The recent growth in NPS has made life even more difficult for vulnerable people already dealing with issues around mental or physical health, family breakdown or homelessness.

“Wrexham is not unique in this, but in other towns and cities in the UK where NPS has posed a problem, a lot of work in this area has been led by the Health sector.

“A lot of good work is being done in Wrexham and progress is being made, but it would benefit further from greater involvement from our NHS partners.

Cllr Jones said it was agreed at a recent scrutiny committee meeting that BCUHB was not doing enough in respect of the issue.

He added: “I have written to the chief executive and the chairman of the health board, asking for greater focus on those challenges which we’re facing in Wrexham, as well as more expediency in dealing with requests for support from the other parties involved.

“I have said before that we have a good partnership in place between Wrexham Council, North Wales Police and a variety of agencies, all of whom are striving to tackle this problem.

“This partnership is a unique grouping of specialised parties, all of whom cover issues of public safety, drug rehabilitation treatment, homelessness and others, but without stronger backing on the part of the Health Board, we can only go so far.

“I would urge the Health Board to work closer with all of us on that partnership, and to speed up responses where support is requested.”

Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board’s chief executive, Gary Doherty, said: “Over recent months and weeks, additional outreach sessions have been provided by our Harm Reduction Service and we are currently looking at ways to allocate additional resources to target the most problematic and hard to reach NPS users. 

“Our priority is to make contact and develop a trusting relationship with people who use NPS before we are able to motivate and promote positive behaviour change.

“This complex problem is bigger than any one organisation and it’s vital that we work together with our partners to ensure that NPS users in Wrexham receive the intensive support they need. We will be writing to Cllr Jones to reaffirm our commitment to tackling this problem, and to look at ways we can strengthen our partnership working.”