A core group of employers and providers has drafted a national skills framework, describing the competences key workers need to deliver treatment throughout a drug user's journey to recovery. The framework will form the basis for an internet-based resource that will provide workers with the practical tools for driving successful outcomes, and improving the quality and impact of treatment.  

The Skills Consortium endorsed the draft framework at a meeting in June and development work is now underway. 

The NTA brought together representatives from the NHS, the voluntary sector and the Royal Colleges to form the Skills Consortium, which has taken ownership of a workforce strategy to improve successful outcomes from drug treatment. Its aim is to promote a highly skilled and ambitious workforce, which will deliver the treatment that helps more drug users overcome addiction and achieve sustained recovery and reintegration. 

The Skills Consortium harnesses the ideas, energy and talents of the field to improve drug treatment. It offers an opportunity to explore how effective care planning can be achieved for all individuals in drug treatment and to review the portfolio of skills required to deliver the full range of recommended interventions, some of which are not yet fully embedded in current practise. To find out more about the Skills Consortium click here.