Treatment Trends
Last week (28 November 2024), the Office for Health Improvement & Disparities published the adult substance misuse treatment statistics for 2023/24. In this blog post, I summarise the main trends in treatment numbers. 310,863 adults aged 18 and over were in contact with drug and alcohol treatment services between April 2023 and March 2024. This is a 7% rise compared to the previous year (290,635), the largest rise in adults in treatment since 2008 to 2009, and the highest number of adults in treatment since 2009 to 2010.
The number of adults entering treatment in 2023 to 2024 was 158,991, which is higher than the previous 2 years’ figures (133,704 and 137,749). The numbers of people entering treatment was relatively stable from 2016 to 2017 up to 2021 to 2022.
Finally, we are seeing some real benefits from the re-investment in services following Dame Carol Black’s Review.
Substance use
Overall numbers in each substance group grew in 2023 to 2024, but there was little change in the relative proportions of all adults in treatment.
Just under half (44%) of adults in treatment were there for problems with opiates. Despite a slight decrease in the proportion of people in this group over time (down from 48% in 2022 to 2023), it remains the largest substance group, with 137,965 people.
People in treatment for alcohol alone make up the second largest group (30%) of adults in treatment. The proportion of people in this group has remained relatively stable at 30% in 2022 to 2023, despite the number of people in this group growing from 86,257 to 94,173.
The other 2 substance groups increased as a proportion of all adults in treatment. There was a 1.4 percentage point increase in the non-opiate group and a 1.3 percentage point increase in the non-opiate and alcohol group. This follows a 0.1 percentage point rise last year for the non-opiate group and a 0.4 percentage point increase for the non-opiate and alcohol group.
Substance use trends
After an increase last year, the proportion of adults entering treatment for problems with crack cocaine use remained the same as last year (19%, or 30,065 people). However, the proportion of people who are using crack with opiates decreased slightly (from 15% to 14%) and those who are using crack without opiates increased slightly (from 4% to 5%).
The proportion of adults starting treatment for powder cocaine problems increased by 2 percentage points (from 17% to 19%), the highest proportion since reporting began.
The proportion of new entrants to treatment with cannabis problems remained stable this year, with the proportion of this group growing by 0.5 percentage points (20.9% to 21.4%). The number of new entrants with benzodiazepine problems increased from 3,620 in 2022 to 2023 to 3,872 this year, although the proportion relative to all new entrants decreased by 0.2 percentage points (2.6% in 2022 to 2023, 2.4% in 2023 to 2024).
Ketamine
There was an increase in the proportion of adults entering treatment in 2023 to 2024 with ketamine problems (from 1.6% in 2022 to 2023 to 2.3% this year). The number of ketamine users starting treatment (3,609) is now over 8 times higher than it was in 2014 to 2015, when the number was 426.
Treatment exits
There were 137,477 people who exited the drug and alcohol treatment system in 2023 to 2024. Nearly half (47%) of those that left had successfully completed their treatment, free from dependence. This is similar to the proportion of people who successfully completed treatment in the previous year (46%).
The total number of people who died while in contact with treatment services in 2023 to 2024 was 4,022, or 1.3% of all adults in treatment. This represents a 0.14 percentage point decrease in the proportion of deaths of all adults in treatment compared to last year.
Long-term outcomes
Recently the NDTMS statisticians have been publishing useful information about the whole cohort of people in treatment going back to 2005/2006. This information emphasises the fact that so many people spend a long time in treatment.
Of the people still in treatment at the end of March 2024:
- around a third (31%) have had more than 4 treatment journeys
- over a quarter (26%) have been in treatment continuously since their treatment started and 59% of those started treatment in 2023 to 2024
- nearly 3 quarters (71%) have been in treatment for 5 years or more
As you can see from the graphic I have reproduced above. In the 19 years of treatment data starting from 2005 to 2006, there has been a total of 1,208,580 people in contact with drug and alcohol treatment services. By 31 March 2024:
- 161,757 (13%) were still engaged in treatment
- 481,451 (40%) had left before they completed their treatment and had not returned
- 565,372 (47%) had completed their treatment and not returned
