08 July 2021
Professor Julia Sinclair, Chair of the Addictions Faculty at the Royal College of Psychiatrists, said:
“Dame Carol Black’s report is a once-in-a-generation opportunity for government to build the foundation for humane and comprehensive addiction treatment. We welcome Dame Carol’s report and her call to increase investment in addiction services by an additional £552 million a year and for this funding to be ringfenced.
“This will begin to undo the decade of cuts, to enable local communities to improve the quality and access to addiction treatment and support.
“The current commissioning model is not fit for purpose and has caused many people to miss out on potentially life-saving treatment. We back the report’s call to improve commissioning standards and move towards integrated commissioning.
“We desperately need to reverse the decline in specialist clinicians leading these services to drive up the quality of treatment offered, as well as train the wider health and social workforce to ensure people with addictions are offered the help they need.
“The Royal College of Psychiatrists’ addictions workforce report last year found a 58% fall in the number of higher trainee places, with five regions in England having no opportunities for such training.
“We need the clinical leadership of addiction psychiatry to build back services, and ensure staff, volunteers and peer mentors working in services get the high quality training they deserve.
For further information, please contact:
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