Understanding the reasons behind an apparent reduction in the number of people accessing specialist alcohol and drugs treatment in Scotland

Public Health Scotland has investigated an observed reduction in the number of people accessing specialist alcohol and drug treatment services across Scotland through a three-phase programme of work.

In Phase One of this investigation PHS conducted internal exploratory analysis to validate and describe changes in the numbers and characteristics of people accessing Tier 3 and 4 services between 2011/12 and 2021/22, using data from the Drug and Alcohol Information System (DAISy) and its predecessor, the Drug and Alcohol Treatment Waiting Times (DATWT) database.

In Phase Two of this investigation, Public Health Scotland presents a national-level examination of the same data sources. This quantitative analysis presents national data shared with Alcohol and Drug Partnerships (ADPs) prior to stakeholder engagement sessions.

In Phase Three, Public Health Scotland engaged with a range of key stakeholders using qualitative methods to explore stakeholder views on the local factors which might have directly or indirectly contributed to the trends observed locally.

The Phase 3 qualitative report is complemented by the Phase 2 quantitative analysis and together they complete PHS’s investigation into understanding the reasons behind an apparent reduction in the number of people accessing specialist alcohol and drug treatment services across Scotland.

Please note: this analysis does not constitute a new statistical release. All data included is already publicly available.