National survey of alcohol treatment agencies in England: Characteristics of treatment agencies

Abstract

Background: To map and contact all specialist alcohol treatment services in England and to investigate the characteristics of responding agencies.

Methods: A national cross-sectional survey of alcohol treatment agencies in England. A questionnaire was designed to gather information about agency characteristics, including the service structure, staffing, modalities of treatment, and associated funding.

Results: A total of 696 alcohol treatment agencies were mapped, of which 388 (55.7%) responded to the survey. Variations in agency characteristics were noticed across geographical regions, as well as across sectors. The estimated annual spending on alcohol treatment was £217 million.

Conclusions: Whereas the regional variation in agency characteristics has implications for access to particular types of treatment, the inter-sector variation has implications for the allocation of funding. The estimated annual spending of £217 million is greater than previous national estimates. A national framework for alcohol service mapping could benefit identification of areas for improvement and lead to more successful treatment outcomes.

• Alcohol misuse
• health services treatment
• survey

Acknowledgments

This study formed part of the ANARP and was funded by the Department of Health, in support of the UK government's Alcohol Harm Reduction Strategy. We wish to acknowledge the contribution of Kable Ltd. and MORI Social Research Institute. We would like to thank the specialist agencies for taking part in the survey. A great deal of professional time was given at very short notice by many people to help with this project and, for that, we are extremely grateful.

Declaration of interest

The authors report no conflicts of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of the paper.