Numbers starting treatment for drug misuse increase by 20% over two years
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《英国医生杂志》
Many more drug users in England and Wales are starting treatment programmes than two years ago, but there is still a major problem with people dropping out in the first 12 weeks.
That is one of the messages to emerge from a report by the Audit Commission on drug misuse. The commission, an independent watchdog that monitors public spending, was reviewing progress since its 2002 report Changing Habits.
"Waiting times for treatment are down, and 20% more users are starting treatment than two years ago," said Zoe Billingham, director of criminal justice and community safety with the commission.
"But one in three users drop out of treatment before they can benefit from it. That results in the taxpayer footing a bill for treatment that is started repeatedly by users before they succeed," she said. "More needs to be done to prevent this fall from the recovery pathway."
The report looks at the effectiveness of the local, multiagency drug action teams, which have been formed to tackle drug misuse. These include representatives from the health service, local authorities, police, probation, prison, and youth offending teams.
The report states that although treatment for people who use illegal drugs has improved substantially, lack of integrated support (including housing and social care) undermines the effectiveness of that treatment.
One of the keys to keeping drug users in treatment was for staff to have an appropriate attitude; at the moment staff tended to stigmatise drug users. The report says it is "crucial" that frontline staff, including receptionists, respond effectively to drug users.
It was important that the GP surgery was approachable and non-judgmental, suggested Sharon Gernon-Booth, who led the team compiling the report and which conducted a survey of users?and carers?views of services.
"People who are around the user may feel more able to approach their GP. It is vital that the surgery is seen as being able to point people to other forms of assistance," she said.
To tap into the expertise of drug users, the Royal College of General Practitioners is training them alongside primary care staff to become peer mentors, says the report.
But it acknowledges that although more GPs are treating drug users, many GPs are still reluctant to do so. Shropshire, for example, used to have problems in recruiting enough GPs willing to provide such treatment, but the drug action team has now recruited some GPs to do this work on a sessional basis in parts of the county that had no service previously.
But the report also highlights the concern of most drug action teams that they have made little progress in meeting the needs of drug users with mental health problems, known as users with "dual diagnosis."
And it points to the shortage of inpatient detoxification facilities and the fact that, where these are in mental health units, drug users often wait longer for treatment because emergency mental health admissions fill the limited bed space.(London Lynn Eaton)
That is one of the messages to emerge from a report by the Audit Commission on drug misuse. The commission, an independent watchdog that monitors public spending, was reviewing progress since its 2002 report Changing Habits.
"Waiting times for treatment are down, and 20% more users are starting treatment than two years ago," said Zoe Billingham, director of criminal justice and community safety with the commission.
"But one in three users drop out of treatment before they can benefit from it. That results in the taxpayer footing a bill for treatment that is started repeatedly by users before they succeed," she said. "More needs to be done to prevent this fall from the recovery pathway."
The report looks at the effectiveness of the local, multiagency drug action teams, which have been formed to tackle drug misuse. These include representatives from the health service, local authorities, police, probation, prison, and youth offending teams.
The report states that although treatment for people who use illegal drugs has improved substantially, lack of integrated support (including housing and social care) undermines the effectiveness of that treatment.
One of the keys to keeping drug users in treatment was for staff to have an appropriate attitude; at the moment staff tended to stigmatise drug users. The report says it is "crucial" that frontline staff, including receptionists, respond effectively to drug users.
It was important that the GP surgery was approachable and non-judgmental, suggested Sharon Gernon-Booth, who led the team compiling the report and which conducted a survey of users?and carers?views of services.
"People who are around the user may feel more able to approach their GP. It is vital that the surgery is seen as being able to point people to other forms of assistance," she said.
To tap into the expertise of drug users, the Royal College of General Practitioners is training them alongside primary care staff to become peer mentors, says the report.
But it acknowledges that although more GPs are treating drug users, many GPs are still reluctant to do so. Shropshire, for example, used to have problems in recruiting enough GPs willing to provide such treatment, but the drug action team has now recruited some GPs to do this work on a sessional basis in parts of the county that had no service previously.
But the report also highlights the concern of most drug action teams that they have made little progress in meeting the needs of drug users with mental health problems, known as users with "dual diagnosis."
And it points to the shortage of inpatient detoxification facilities and the fact that, where these are in mental health units, drug users often wait longer for treatment because emergency mental health admissions fill the limited bed space.(London Lynn Eaton)