Addiction treatment centres are bracing themselves for a leap in people seeking help after the festive period, amid fears that cuts to drug and alcohol services mean some addicts are being cut adrift.



The UK is the drug overdose capital of Europe, according to the European monitoring centre for drugs and drug addiction, with almost one in three of the continent’s overdose deaths, mainly related to heroin and opioids. Alcohol-specific deaths have also risen in recent years, as have alcohol-related hospital admissions.

At the same time, experts say local drug and alcohol teams are not getting the funding they need because of the squeeze on local authorities’ public health budgets, forcing increasing numbers of people to self-refer for costly treatment.

Eytan Alexander, a recovering addict and founder of UK Addiction Treatment Centres (Ukat), which runs six facilities in England, said he expected self-referrals to reach unprecedented levels after the festive period.

“The trouble with alcohol and drug addicts is the inability to choose so when it’s Christmas and when there’s a justification they hit it hard. Who doesn’t like a drink at Christmas? A lot of families will tolerate it and then it goes to a new level and he [the addict] can’t cope.

“The drug and alcohol teams do amazing work but they’re fighting with one hand behind their back so people look for other alternatives.”

Ukat mostly helps people funding treatment themselves, with costs starting at £10,000 for three months.

The number of people it treated in the first three months of last year – 467 – was more than double that of the same period the previous year. It is expecting another big increase in January to March next year.

Admissions in each month last year were higher than than in 2016, with admissions for December forecast to be 40% higher than those 12 months earlier.

At Clouds House, in Wiltshire, one of two treatment centres run by the charity Action on Addiction, it typically sees an uplift of 45% in the number of private clients and part-funded bursary clients between the second and seventh week of the year.

Michael Rawlinson, who leads the therapeutic programme there, said: “It [Christmas] is very difficult for the addict population. The memories of the festive season can be ones that are filled with fear or anxiety, things done to them or behaviour they’ve done to others. I think it’s the management of pain. You’re meant to be having fun and it can be really sad and painful. Alcoholics tend to drink more, use more.”

Paul Hayes, the chief executive of Collective Voice, an umbrella group of leading UK addiction charities, said spending on drug and alcohol services has been cut by 25% since 2013, when the National Treatment Agency for Substance Misuse was abolished and responsibility for theose services was placed in the hands of local authorities.

He said: “Without immediate action to stem the flow of resources out of the services, drug deaths will go up, the recent increase in drug-related crime will spiral out of control and the most vulnerable people in our society will be trapped in addiction.”

Local authorities’ public health grant funding is being reduced by £531m between 2015 and 2020, raising the prospect of further cutbacks to addiction services.

Izzi Seccombe, chair of the Local Government Association’s community wellbeing board, said councils were commissioning more cost-effective services and were committed to ensuring drug users received the right support and treatment.



“However, we have long argued that reductions by central government to the public health grant in local government that is used to fund drug and alcohol prevention and treatment services is a short-term approach and one that will only compound acute pressures for criminal justice and NHS services further down the line,” she said.

A government spokesman said: “Our new drugs strategy protects the most vulnerable, tackles illicit trade and helps those with drug dependency turn their lives around. While work is also under way on what more we can do to support families suffering from the impact of alcohol abuse.



“In addition, local authorities will be given £16bn over the current spending period to spend on public health.”