Support Never Stops needed to build a conversational AI platform to engage with people affected by drug use. Ortom partnered with them to design and build a system that delivers trustworthy, region-specific information whilst avoiding the pitfalls of generic AI tools.
\nSupport Never Stops, founded by John Campbell, is a digital health and wellbeing platform designed for people who use drugs, those concerned about someone else's drug use, and the professionals who work with them. The company identified a significant gap in UK drug services: while traditional services focus on individuals using substances like heroin, the much larger population using drugs such as powder cocaine, ecstasy, and ketamine often goes unsupported.
\n\"Drug services across the UK haven't been good at engaging with the larger population that's using a wider range of substances,\" John explains. \"We know the vast majority of these people search online for help and ways to cut down or stop. We felt there was a real gap in provision.\"
\nJohn and his team had taken the concept to a basic working model, but progressing further proved difficult. They needed a partner who could help them build a realistic minimum viable product, suitable for demonstrating to commissioners and securing contracts.
\nThe technical challenge was substantial. Off-the-shelf AI tools like ChatGPT presented serious problems for this sensitive use case. \"There were two or three key problems that jumped out at us,\" John recalls. \"One was almost a form of collusion that would take place — language like 'you're not a bad person, stick with it' — that's not an approach we'd ever use within drug services. Then there was hallucination — providing documents that didn't actually exist, or quotes from documents that didn't exist. We'd never have got past the first hurdle with commissioners, and rightly so.\"
\nThe team also explored larger consultancies. One promising option, ANS, required weeks of innovation lab sessions discussing what AI is and how it could help. \"We'd kind of bypassed that stage already,\" John notes. \"We needed somebody to help us take this to the next level.\" The team needed a smaller, more flexible partner with genuine expertise in both AI and the healthcare context. After casting a wide net, John connected with Tom Liptrot at Ortom.
\nOrtom's combination of NHS background and machine learning expertise made the partnership a strong fit from the outset. \"On paper, it looked like a perfect fit,\" John recalls. \"Ortom had a good understanding of the governance processes that need to be in place with NHS work.\"
\nThe solution centred on building a custom conversational AI agent that could engage naturally with users while staying within strict, trustworthy boundaries. Rather than relying on the open-ended responses of general-purpose AI, Ortom designed a system that draws answers from a curated library of information. This approach addressed the hallucination and collusion issues that made off-the-shelf tools unsuitable, while keeping responses relevant to the user's geographic region and local services.
\nThe platform was built around three audiences: people who use substances, those concerned about someone else's use, and professionals working in the field. For the professional audience, Ortom helped develop a full training suite and a conference builder, extending the platform's value beyond the conversational interface.
\nThroughout development, the working relationship was deliberately collaborative. Tom gave John early access to a test version of the system, allowing the Support Never Stops team to provide feedback as features developed rather than at the end. \"That worked very well,\" John says. \"What I particularly liked was how easy you were to contact. As the project progressed and we started testing, there were continual things we needed to discuss, or new ideas. To have you there as a first port of call was absolutely invaluable. That just wouldn't have been there for us working with a much larger company structured around huge meetings and big departments — it would never have progressed.\"
\n\n\n\"I enjoyed the learning experience. You have to see what isn't working the way you want, and why, to fully understand the system's capabilities and its limitations. That trial and error, but with continual progression, was something that really appealed to me.\"
\n
John Campbell
Director, Support Never Stops
Delivered a Working Production System: Ortom built a fully functioning platform that Support Never Stops can demonstrate to commissioners and use with real users, transforming the project from concept to credible product.
\nEliminated Critical AI Reliability Issues: The custom system avoids the hallucination and inappropriate collusive responses common to general-purpose AI, providing the trustworthy foundation required for healthcare commissioning conversations.
\nGenerated Commercial Momentum: Support Never Stops has held its first significant contract meeting with Public Health Northern Ireland and is preparing to engage Public Health Wales. \"It's now much further down the line than realistically we could have hoped, and that's only because we actually have a working product to demonstrate,\" John explains. \"Discussing a concept with commissioners often takes you no further forward at all.\"
\nStrong Reception from End Users and Staff: The platform has been demonstrated to people with lived and living experience of substance use, as well as frontline staff. \"The feedback's been excellent,\" John says. \"Initially staff were almost worried because it was so effective — but when we explained this engages a much wider population, and would drive footfall to their service rather than detract from it, there was real buy-in.\"
\nEstablished a Foundation for Growth: The minimum viable product provides a springboard for future development, with continued collaboration planned as the platform scales.
\n\n\n\"We had a first significant contract meeting with Public Health in Northern Ireland, who are very interested in the system. We're now preparing to engage with Public Health in Wales as well. Demonstrating a working product changes the conversation entirely with commissioners.\"
\n
John Campbell
Director, Support Never Stops
Support Never Stops now has a working AI platform that addresses a genuine gap in UK drug services — providing meaningful, factual, region-specific support to a population that traditional services have struggled to reach. The conversational AI built with Ortom forms the foundation of a product now being shown to public health commissioners across the UK, with strong early reception from both end users and the professional workforce.
\nThis collaboration reflects how Ortom works with early-stage tech companies. We combine deep technical expertise with genuine engagement in the problem at hand, working alongside founders rather than handing over deliverables from a distance. By giving clients early access to working systems and iterating together, we help build products that are not just technically sound but genuinely fit for their commercial and clinical context.
\n\n","fields":{"slug":"/case-studies/support-never-stops/"},"frontmatter":{"title":"Building a trustworthy conversational AI for a drug services platform","client":"Support Never Stops","description":"Partnering with Support Never Stops to develop a conversational AI platform that provides reliable, region-specific support for people affected by drug use, transforming a concept into a working product ready for commissioning.","featuredimage":{"childImageSharp":{"fluid":{"base64":"data:image/png;base64,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","aspectRatio":1.7722222222222221,"src":"/static/3806c18955c1c9a8bad544ff3feb94a8/2755c/river.png","srcSet":"/static/3806c18955c1c9a8bad544ff3feb94a8/d61a3/river.png 319w,\n/static/3806c18955c1c9a8bad544ff3feb94a8/e6472/river.png 639w,\n/static/3806c18955c1c9a8bad544ff3feb94a8/2755c/river.png 1277w,\n/static/3806c18955c1c9a8bad544ff3feb94a8/e674f/river.png 1400w","sizes":"(max-width: 1277px) 100vw, 1277px"}}}}}},"pageContext":{"id":"68628782-25c5-5b13-b377-db53c4fa2cac","prev":{"id":"065b00aa-20a1-5e19-ac75-dd84b0d7c55e","fields":{"slug":"/case-studies/citypress-ai-platform/"},"frontmatter":{"tags":["casestudy"],"templateKey":"case-study","title":"A secure, flexible AI workspace for Citypress"}},"next":{"id":"329f6eb8-ca30-5c02-8921-19623541f94e","fields":{"slug":"/"},"frontmatter":{"tags":null,"templateKey":"index-page","title":""}}}}, "staticQueryHashes": []}\"I'd absolutely recommend working with Ortom, particularly if you have a very bespoke AI-guided project you want to progress. You'll find massive benefits in working with a smaller, flexible, but still quite dynamic organisation. No hesitation at all.\"
\n
John Campbell
Director, Support Never Stops