Recovery Ramblings

Back in 2007 the residential rehab sector was really struggling, even though the financial crisis was over the horizon. The recovery agenda had yet to take hold and incentives on treatment providers and commissioners were more about retention in treatment than sustained abstinent outcomes.

At the time I was working at Phoenix at the time, which included oversight of their ten, struggling residential rehabs. At the time Phoenix was by some margin the largest not for profit provider of residential treatment, so we took something of a lead in coordinating the sector.

The “Residential Rehabilitation and the National Drug Strategy” document was an attempt to get the sector speaking with one voice on the issue. Many of the issues remain relevent to any discussion of residential treatment, particularly the argument that these services have been purchased rather than commissioned.

The three main recomendations were to:

1. Set out a framework and timescale to create a regional commissioning structure to replace the current purchasing model.
2. Create incentives for the drug treatment system to promote opportunities for abstinence within and alongside a sustainable investment in harm reduction.
3. Clarify the regulatory framework for this form of treatment so that equivalent

The full document is available for download here.