The drug treatment system in England is currently “not fit for purpose” and is in urgent need of repair, a landmark review has concluded.
Dame Carol Black described the findings of her government-commissioned review as “disturbing, even shocking”, as she warned: “Funding cuts have left treatment and recovery services on their knees.”
In response to the review, which warns that entrenched drug use is “a major barrier” to Boris Johnson’s plans for “levelling up” all parts of the country, the government has announced the creation of a new cross-departmental unit to combat drug use.
With the first part of Dame Carol’s review, published last February, having found that entrenched drug use and premature deaths occur disproportionately more in deprived areas and the north of the country, in the second part she now warns that the pandemic has very likely “widened inequalities”.
The report paints a bleak picture – likely all-too-familiar to many within the sector – of “deteriorated” partnerships between councils, health, housing, employment and criminal…
