NHS Treatment and Alcohol Recovery Services

[nh_user_654970]

In the majority of the UK, NHS treatment for alcohol misuse is generally not provided by your GP for various reasons, one of which is the need for ongoing monitoring and counselling support.  Instead the NHS tender out the contracts to provide these services for organisations to bid on.  If successful, an organisation that provides this service is often referred to as an 'alcohol recovery service'. Any organisation that is appointed by, and funded by, the NHS is expected to follow NHS guidance on the assessment, diagnosis and treatment of alcohol misuse as well as the NHS Constitution which is a statement of pledges and rights that determine the relationship between the NHS and you, as the patient.

For anyone currently 'stuck' in the NHS system and seemingly getting nowhere, as well as anyone looking to newly access NHS treatment for their condition, I would strongly suggest that both they (and a loved one, if possible) read the guidelines so that they know what is likely to happen, and what to expect in terms of their treatment.  Done correctly, the partnership between a patient and these organisations can be really rewarding, leading to recovery.  Done incorrectly (on either side) it will result in a disjointed partnership that will often lead not to recovery, but to more frustation and despair.

Please google 'NICE Guidance CG115' and on the main menu of the document, click 'guidance'.  If needed, print it off to take to the appointment with you.

This guidance is not new, and it was produced in Feb 2011.  Yet, I still regularly hear from people who are utterly frustrated that their concerns about their treatment are seemingly being ignored.  The guidance is there to provide smooth NHS treatment, and under the NHS Constitution you have the right to be fully involved in decisions about which treatment you feel will be most appropriate for you.  Basically, you have a right to have an informed discussion about ALL the NHS-approved treatments, whether that be talk therapy, group therapy, pharmacological aids.... or even a combination of more than one tool to recovery.  If the person you are sat with is not properly trained and qualified to discuss a certain aspect of recovery that you are interested in discussing, then you absolutely have the right to a further appointment with the correctly qualified person.  You won't know that if you don't know what to expect, and what your rights are.

I have attached a screenshot which shows the importance of understanding what you can expect.  I hear often from people who are being told that they cannot use the organisation's services unless they commit to immediate abstience, and this is just one particular barrier that is common.  This is incorrect, and you can see how knowing this ready for your appointment will have helped you overcome this barrier.

I hope that this helps people not just now, but in the future, too.

[nh_user_948654]

Joanna I seriously appreciate your advice on NHS Constitution. This is my experience. I have been to my GP and all he will do is refer me to an alcohol recovery agency, which I have previously done. CBT has never worked for me but he will not prescribe me Chloradiaxapoxide because I have to attend 'the centre.' I know how to use this medication and it is effective. If you are allowed to have it from your GP.

Life circumstances can cause struggle and we all have ways to cope, or we think we do. I was anorexic and bulimic into my mid twenties and was never understood even by my mother. Now as a 61 year old hoping that a 21 year old 'counsellor' could ever understand my life history and issues leading up to my problem cannot work for me. The system is flawed and I am 100% sure it comes down to budgets. It's unfair. If you want to stop smoking doctors and cessation clinics will help. Obese, doctors will help. Depression, GP's step in. Alcohol abuse you are shunted, in my experience, to an ineffective service, not supported by the NHS. I asked a GP, in a consultation, and I won't name names or the locality, for Campral, and was told in no uncertain terms that the practice was not an alcohol recovery centre!! Should have been a smoker or obese, that would have worked!!!!!😬😬😬

[nh_user_542170]

What a well researched guidance you are offering to people with drinking problems. And to know what their rights are and what to expect is so important. Your years of experience in this field shines through in this thoughtful reply. Amazing!

[nh_user_654970]

Budgets are certainly part of the reason for sure - the NHS fund these centres so they receive the budget to provide all the care required, whether that be counselling or medications.  They don't want to be paying these centres to provide the care and then having GPs using their budget for medications that are already allowed for elsewhere in the budget.  It'd be like paying for something twice, and remove money from the GPs budget for other care.

In an ideal world, the concept behind the centres are sound.  Local care, provided by local people, and a place where someone can concentrate on their recovery with specialist doctors and counsellors.  But of course we don't live in an ideal world and with funding cuts everywhere, the NHS will not train nurses at doctors surgeries to support those dealing with alcohol misuse when there are already trained staff able to perform this task within these organisations.  Rightly or wrongly, those with alcohol problems are deemed to have more complex needs than those who are trying to stop smoking - and therefore a nurse who monitors someone's cigarette usage should not be expected to perform outside of their qualifications and provide counselling needs, or relationship needs, or whatever the reason is that someone is drinking.  Stats from the US show that only 40% of problem drinkers have a secondary issue that needs that type of complex support system in place, but yet the 'system' both there and across the world still has the concept that every drinker must have a reason for their drinking that is in need of complex and specifically trained support systems.