‘Successful completion of drug treatment’ will be one
of the ‘desired outcomes’ when Public Health England
becomes operational next year. The measure is one of
66 national indicators included in the government’s
new
Public health outcomes for England
.
The measures are split into four domains of ‘improving
the wider determinants of health’, ‘health improvement’,
‘health protection’ and ‘healthcare, public health, and
preventing premature mortality’. The drug treatment
measure forms part of health improvement alongside
‘alcohol-related admissions to hospital’ and ‘people
entering prison with substance dependence issues who
are previously not known to community treatment’.
The measures will be used by local authorities to track
their progress in tackling key public health challenges, with
Public Health England publishing data to monitor
performance. From April 2013, councils will receive a ring-
fenced budget – a share of around £5.2bn – and will be
able to choose how they spend it ‘according to the needs
of their population’, says the Department of Health, with
those that make the most improvements receiving extra
cash in the shape of a ‘health premium’.
The drug treatment indicator will be based on the
number leaving treatment ‘free of their drug of
dependency’ and who do not re-present within a six-
month period. The inclusion of the indicator was a
welcome development that gave the treatment sector ‘a
national benchmark for measuring recovery for the first
time’, said NTA chief executive Paul Hayes.
‘Every area of the country is different so councils will be
able to decide what the most important public health
concern is for them and spend the money appropriately,’
said health secretary Andrew Lansley. However, at last
year’s DDN/Alliance conference in Birmingham, Paul
Hayes acknowledged that drug and alcohol treatment
would have to fight for its share of the cash against
competing interests, with the possibility that it would not
always be a priority. ‘In straitened times is there a risk
involved in moving money locally? You bet there is,’ he
told delegates. ‘But we have to win these arguments.’
Agency chair Baroness Doreen Massey said in a
statement that although Public Health England takes over
the NTA’s functions from next year, the agency was
‘confident that the work we are doing now will secure the
continued success and future of drug treatment and
recovery services’. The NTA had been engaging with local
authorities to make the case for treatment, she said,
including using a new presentation, ‘Why invest?’ to show
how treatment ‘benefits individuals, strengthens families
and makes communities safer’. The Faculty of Public health
has also warned that the government needs to ensure that
the health premium does not mean vulnerable groups, like
homeless people, are ‘penalised for being harder to reach’.
Why invest? available to download at www.nta.nhs.uk
GET BRIEFED
A new briefing paper on the ‘issues and
challenges for the delivery of drug
interventions in the new public health
system’ has been published by UKDPC.
Illicit drugs and public health in 2012 is
based on a workshop involving local
directors of public health and repre-
sentatives of central government. ‘While
some rebalancing of resources,
particularly towards greater integration
of treatment for alcohol and drug
dependence, is likely to be of benefit, it
is important that this is not done in such
a way as to jeopardise the gains made in
tackling drug problems,’ it states.
Available at www.ukdpc.org.uk
CABLE CALL
Alcohol Concern has written to business
secretary Vince Cable calling for a
specific policy on alcohol issues in the
workplace to be included in the Corporate
Governance Code, which sets out the
responsibilities of companies listed in the
UK. Alcohol-related absenteeism and lost
productivity is estimated to cost the
economy up to £6.4bn a year.
‘Companies simply have to address
attitudes to alcohol and drinking behav-
iours,’ said chief executive Eric Appleby.
IT SUCKS
Suck & Blow alcoholic jelly tubes have
been judged to breach three separate
alcohol responsibility rules by the
Portman Group’s
Independent
Complaints Panel. It ruled that the
product’s name had clear connotations
with sexual activity, that its bright
packaging and ‘childish font’ would
appeal to under-18s, and that its design
– a tube designed to allow people to blow
the contents into another person’s mouth
– encouraged rapid drinking. Another
product, Crunk Juice, has been found to
breach the responsibility code for
encouraging excessive consumption and
failing to make the alcoholic nature of the
product clear on its packaging.
VOLUNTEERING VOICES
A new toolkit, Real voices in
volunteering, has been produced by
Adfam for use by volunteers, volunteer
managers or anyone considering these
roles. The toolkit brings together
volunteering material, drug and alcohol
information, and the experiences of
service users and their families.
Available at www.adfam.org.uk
4 |
drinkanddrugsnews
| February 2012
www.drinkanddrugsnews.com
Treatment to be ‘key measure’
of health improvement
News in Brief
News |
Round-up
Minimum pricing research questions 45p impact
An updated report from the University of Sheffield has
suggested that a minimum price of 45p per unit of alcohol
would have less of an impact than when researchers first
reported on the issue in 2009, because of a slight increase in
prices and slight decrease in drinking rates.
The Scottish Government named 45p as its minimum price
in an amendment to its Alcohol (Scotland) Bill (
DDN
, 13
September 2010, page 4). However, new data sets show a
‘slight reduction in mean alcohol consumption at the total
population level’ along with slight reductions in the proportion
of the population classed as harmful or hazardous drinkers. At
the same time, prices have risen, meaning the proportion of
alcohol bought at less than 45p per unit fell from 72 per cent
in 2009 to 69 per cent for beer/cider, 53 per cent to 48 per cent
for wine, and 76 per cent to 72 per cent for spirits.
The revised report looks at a range of minimum prices –
from 25p to 70p – with and without a corresponding ban on
promotions. Even under the revised predictions, however, it
found that a 45p minimum price combined with a promotions
ban would see overall weekly consumption across the country
fall by six per cent, with alcohol-related deaths falling by
around 60 in the first year, up to around 300 a year after a
decade. It predicts a fall in general hospital admissions of
1,660 in year one and 6,630 by year ten, along with 3,600
fewer offences per year.
While harmful drinkers would pay an extra £132 per year,
moderate drinkers would pay just £9 more, it says. ‘For all
minimum price scenarios, with or without the presence of an
off-trade discount ban, the majority of the health and
healthcare benefits come from the harmful drinking group,’ it
states. The government will announce its new minimum
pricing level in the spring.
‘There is a clear link between the price of alcohol and
consumption levels which is why we always intended to
introduce a minimum price alongside the quantity discount
ban,’ said health secretary Nicola Sturgeon. ‘The support in
favour of minimum pricing is now overwhelming, and I hope
that this time around Scotland’s MSPs will do the right thing
and back this policy.’
Meanwhile, new figures from the Office for National
Statistics show a slight increase in alcohol-related deaths in the
UK overall, rising from 8,664 in 2009 to 8,790 in 2010. Around
64 per cent were the result of alcoholic liver disease. Death
rates in males aged 55-74 showed a ‘sharp and statistically
significant’ increase from 41.8 per 100,000 population to 45.2.
Although rates of alcohol consumption have been declining, it
will take a number of years for any reduction in alcohol-related
deaths to become apparent, says ONS, given the amount of
time it takes alcoholic liver disease to develop.
The British Liver Trust has also launched a report stating
that people with alcohol problems should not ‘treated with a
one size fits all abstinence approach’. Staff should work with
clients to ‘understand their preferences in setting goals to
reduce their alcohol harm’, it says.
www.sheffield.ac.uk/scharr/sections/ph/research/alpol/publi
cations; www.ons.gov.uk; www.britishlivertrust.org.uk