NDTMS to include alcohol from April 2008

The NTA Business Plan 2007/08 says this:

During 2006/07 the NTA was asked to scope what use could be made of existing alcohol data in current NDTMS (including TOP) and a national system for the monitoring of structured alcohol treatment use, mirroring NDTMS. The Department of Health will decide whether to commission a National Alcohol Treatment Monitoring System (NATMS) early in 2007/08 and NTA will take subsequent action.

It seems the decision has been taken to stick with NDTMS (National Drug Treatment Monitoring System) but to start processing data on primary alcohol users now.  From April 2008 all drug and alcohol treatment providers are asked to submit data to NDTMS on alcohol users; this includes alcohol-only services.

The NTA is recruiting an Alcohol Treatment Implementation Manager (details here), to coordinate the implementation of data collection on alcohol treatment through the NDTMS.

All this is good news.  The NTA and Department of Health will quickly get a clear and objective picture of the state of alcohol treatment and the inequality between provision for drug and alcohol users (if they were ever in any doubt).

However, treatment providers that do not receive NTA funding through the Pooled Treatment Budget (ie all alcohol-only serivces, in theory) may find the new requirement a burdensome imposition. 

What do you think?  Please get in touch - leave a comment here, or email us.

Further information

 

• The London NTDMS bulletin annouces the news (in a very low key way)
• LDAN's London Alcohol Statistics Project report

Comments

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[Don Shenker]

Libby,

Alcohol Concern have long campaigned for consitent monitoring of those entering alcohol treatment, so that we can track levels of need and (eventually/hopefully) numbers waiting for treatment.

The DH (who need greater stats on alcohol treatment) have requested this work and the NTA are right to use NDTMS (with all its faults)for this as using a new system would be very confusing - the point is that those alcohol services not currently entering NDTMS data must recieve the resources needed to set this up on their systems and the staff training required.

The DH and NTA need to support alcohol services not currently using NDTMS to set this up from scratch, just as drug agencies were supported when NDTMS first started - we must ensure this support is properly provided. To not do so would be an own goal.