Public Health England (PHE) has announced it will lead the development of UK-wide clinical guidelines for alcohol treatment to support alcohol treatment practice.
The guidelines aim to develop a clear consensus on good practice and help services to implement interventions for harmful and dependent drinking as recommended by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) CG115 guideline. The guideline will aim to promote and support consistent good practice and improve the quality of service provision, resulting in better outcomes.
The guidelines will provide:
- a detailed framework for specialist service providers to support service delivery and staff training
- a framework for commissioners to use when designing service specifications and checking quality
- guidance for primary and secondary health care staff
- clear guidance on managing and supporting service user pathways, such as between hospital and community, and prisons and community
- a reference point for national regulatory bodies when inspecting alcohol treatment services
PHE say they intend to publish the guidelines by the end of next year and are convening a UK-wide expert group of senior clinicians and service users and professionals with specialist alcohol expertise who will oversee the development of the guidelines. The guideline will be the alcohol equivalent to the UK drug misuse treatment guidelines (the ‘orange book’).
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