Caution against drug relapse threat

Thursday, 29 January 2009 10:00 AM

By politics.co.uk staff

More needs to be done by the NHS to prevent post-detox drug users returning to drug use, a report has warned.

The Healthcare Commission and the National Treatment Agency for Substance Misuse (NTA) found the vast majority of NHS inpatient detoxification and publicly-funded rehab centres provide a good service.

But their report also noted that two-thirds of partnerships failed to monitor rates of overdose post-discharge, while around a third did not ask community-based services to carry out risk assessments.

"It is important that there is a balance of options available so that people can get the treatment most likely to help them overcome their addiction," NTA chief executive Paul Hayes said.

"The findings of this report will continue to inform the ongoing improvement of drug treatment services to meet the needs of individuals and the communities they are part of."

None of the 149 local drug partnerships in England were rated as "weak" by the report and 72 per cent scored "good" overall.

But 28 per cent of inpatient services and 41 per cent of residential services were failing to report complete data to the National Drug Treatment Monitoring System.

"It is a national priority to address this," the report noted.

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