What should a recovery-oriented drug treatment system look like?
The National Treatment Agency for Substance Misuse (NTA) is asking those with a personal or professional interest in drug treatment to be involved in designing a new service framework that will support local areas in delivering the government's new drug strategy.
The strategy sets out a new ambition for all individuals to achieve recovery and ultimately the chance to lead a drug-free life. As such, it puts the goal of building a recovery-focused system at its heart.
The drug strategy suggested it was time to update an existing handbook Models of Care for Treatment of Adult Drug Misusers (last revised four years ago) to reflect the emerging evidence base and growing focus on recovery.
Under the working title, Building Recovery in Communities, the NTA is consulting on the development of this new framework over the course of the next three months. It will work with the treatment field and related services to rebalance the system and embed the principles of recovery within the entire treatment system, making recovery a desirable and realistic goal.
Among the key issues for discussion are whether treatment for drug and alcohol dependence should be closely integrated and how all treatment inside prisons and out in the community can be better brought together in a seamless system.
A new framework should also reflect the importance of assessing and meeting the wider physical, mental and social needs of substance misusers as part of a new ambition for recovery.
Paul Hayes, chief executive of the NTA, said: "The drug strategy sets out a new vision for treatment and recovery and Building Recovery in Communities will be the sector's action plan to make it happen. Recovery is about people getting better, overcoming dependence and getting on with their lives.
"However there is no one-size-fits-all recipe for recovery. It is an individual journey and what's needed to achieve it will vary from person to person. This is why the NTA remains committed to a balanced treatment system which not only reduces harm but also promotes a culture of ambition and a belief in recovery.
"The current framework for treatment has served us well in the past but we are now moving into a challenging and exciting phase and the NTA wants anyone with a personal or professional interest in treatment for substance misuse to share their knowledge, skills and experience to shape a new blueprint for drug treatment for 2011 and beyond."
The full consultation document can be found here.
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Media enquiries to:
Lynne Nasti
Senior Communications Officer (Media)
Tel: 020 7972 1920 Mob: 07747 535961 (out of hours)
lynne.nasti@nta-nhs.org.uk