Is Free Addiction Help Really Available in the UK? What You Need to Know

Free addiction help is, most certainly, available in the UK. Everyone is entitled to services provided by their local authority.

Free addiction help UK is accessible whether you live in England, Scotland or Wales.

Wherever you pay your council tax has a responsibility to provide you with a service: free at the point of contact. There is no means testing. Everyone is entitled to help.

Some services offer a walk-in service for new referrals, while others you need to book in advance. While your GP can signpost you: The main route is self-referral.

Often hospital alcohol and drug liaison teams will also signpost as well as prisons and police stations to services providing help with addiction in UK regions at no charge.

At the end of the day, it really doesn’t matter who you are, where you are from (providing you live in the catchment area), what you do for a living, if you are young, old, pregnant, unemployed or a business owner.

Free addiction help UK services could assist you if you’re worried about alcohol, crack, gabapentin, diazepam or all four.

Some services have additionally focused services aimed at chemsex drugs and safe spaces for women and LGBTQQIA2S+.

For those whose first language isn’t English, they will arrange interpreters. The service will also help with housing options, access to benefits, and accessing other statutory services.

Statutory services offer groups as well as keywork sessions, usually with a recovery worker who is in recovery themselves.

Where appropriate, you will be seen by a clinician in service should you require a prescription. These services are what make free addiction help available in the UK unique.

What will differ greatly is what the service is commissioned to provide. Over that, you have no control. The service is “bought in” by your local council unless they choose to run it themselves.

Some local authorities will purchase services from the NHS, some from private companies, and others from non-for-profit companies and charities. It really doesn’t matter to the end user.

All services will provide substitute prescribing for those dependent on Heroin and, to a degree, pain killers. Most will also provide a community alcohol detox where it is clinically appropriate. What they won’t do, simply because they are not commissioned (paid) to do so, is provide any other clinical interventions.

They will not provide a detox for cocaine, benzodiazepine, Gabapentin, Pregabalin, or any other substance. While your keyworker can go over some do’s and dont’s for reducing and you may be able to see a clinician for more expert advice, they simply cannot give you a prescription.

When it comes to residential rehab, free addiction help UK services might offer this but it is certainly not something they are going to offer you at the first appointment.

If it is an option, it will be at the end of a very long process of assessments, meetings, attendances at groups, etc. Why? Because budgets are tight. Some will think they can circumvent this by getting themselves admitted to hospital: It won’t work.

NHS Hospitals, unless specifically commissioned, do not provide addiction treatment and even if they do you cannot get in by the back door by getting into A+E.

The NHS duty of care will extend on to what is reasonable in the circumstances. If you go to A+E in withdrawal (because you have stopped drinking or taking drugs) they will only treat you until such time as you are safe to go home.

They may not treat you at all. If you do need treatment for an underlying medical issue, then chances are, that is all you will get. If you exhibit signs of withdrawal from alcohol, they will provide suitable treatment, but for opioids, they may only offer symptom control and not a detox.

Where local services do provide residential treatment, it will have to be approved by the service commissioners. While you will not need to be involved in that process, your keyworker will need to present a strong case as to why funds should be allocated. Due to the demand, they will only put you forward if you adhere to the treatment plan: Attending meetings, groups, keywork sessions, etc.

Residential services provided will be low-cost and brief. Usually it will consist of a detox only. Sometimes they may fund rehab as well, but this is the exception to the rule. Sometimes there may be a gap between detox and rehab, which can be very problematic.

Statutory services have block contracts with low-cost/non-for-profit rehab services. They are all regulated by the Care Quality Commission and you can be assured of safe, regulated care. While not an ideal parallel, picture the difference between an NHS and private hospital.

Some clients have health insurance, either through their own cover or through a works policy. However, inclusion for addiction rehabilitation and treatment is the exception rather than the norm.

Those centers that do cater for insurance clients may be a little further, geographically, than you would have wanted.

The reason why a lot of centers won’t work with insurance companies is the very preferential rates they negotiate and the very long lead times in which the clinics get paid.

If you go through a referral agency, such as ADT Healthcare and Serenity Health Group, they receive a lower commission and only after the clinic is paid by the insurer.

Private treatment, either at home or in residential rehab, may not be anywhere near as expensive as you might think. A lot of companies offer alcohol treatment at home. Please be careful: Most are doing so illegally, and it can actually cost less to go into a rehab center than to have treatment at home.

Our addictions clinicians have decades of experience in the field. They have worked in most of the major centers in the UK and will, quite happily, provide a referral to a residential rehab center that offers free addiction help across the UK.

Recent Posts