A PIONEERING fast-track medical service for drug addicts on Teesside is to be used as an example to others.

Nearly 200 users and their families have been helped in the three years the ground- breaking Fulcrum medical practice has been in existence.

The majority of patients attending the clinic are heroin addicts who pay for their cravings by engaging in crime.

But it is claimed that the treatment delivered by the Grangetown, Middlesbrough, clinic has led to a reduction in crime and improvements in the health and quality of life of the addicts.

Now the work of Fulcrum is highlighted in a regional document - North East Neighbourhood Renewal in Action - and will be used by decision makers and professionals to improve life for their communities.

Neighbourhood Renewal funds totalling £207,242 have been invested in the practice and spent on extending the premises, employing more doctors, nursing and counselling time, to tackle drug dependency.

Practice spokeswoman Tina Pinkney said: "Particularly effective has been the psychotherapy treatment which we have used. Many clients are trying to deal with traumas which predate their drug addiction and indeed is being masked by it. If we can address these issues through psychotherapy then other drug treatments will have a greater effect."

She added: "The work at the practice has also had a positive knock-on effect in the surrounding area, where pat-ients tell us there has been a reduction in demand for Class A drugs and fewer drug dealers."

The report featuring the success of Fulcrum is the result of a partnership between Government Office for the North-East, Regeneration Exchange and the University of Teesside's Social Futures Institute.

It looks at how the Neighbourhood Renewal Fund is being used to support projects in health, housing, environment, education, employment and crime.

Jonathan Blackie, Government Office regional director, said: "This document is an important piece of research which highlights how the Neighbourhood Renewal Fund is being used in the region to support mainstream service activity in some of our most deprived neighbourhoods."