PEOPLE IN SPECIALIST TREATMENT FOR ALCOHOL AS RECORDED BY NDTMS - 2011/12 QUARTER 4 UPDATE Executive Summary At the end of 2011/12 in the North East, 6.2% of estimated dependent drinkers were in contact with (accessing) specialist treatment services for main substance alcohol. This figure was similar to the national total of 6.8%. At a local Primary Care Trust (PCT) level, Darlington had the highest estimated percentage of dependent drinkers having accessed specialist treatment services at 13.8% whereas North Tyneside had the lowest percentage at 2.9%. Throughout 2011/12 the North East has seen a decrease of 5.9% in numbers in treatment (a drop from 9,456 in 2010/11 to 8,898 currently). However, the current level of numbers in treatment has managed to remain above the 2009/10 total of 8,531 and hopefully this can be maintained throughout the 2012/13 totals. The 2011/12 Q4 data shows that there has been overall decrease in numbers accessing specialist alcohol treatment in the North East compared to the same time last year. At the PCT level, there were five areas experiencing increases in the numbers in treatment and seven areas experiencing decreases; County Durham, Darlington, Hartlepool, North Tees and Northumberland had respective increases of 0.2%, 0.4%, 8.4%, 3.4% and 7.5% compared to 2010/11 Q4. Numbers in Treatment Figure 1 below shows the estimated percentage of dependent drinkers 1 accessing specialist treatment for alcohol across the North East. The overall percentage as at the end of 2010/11 Q4 (annual figure) is shown at the top of each bar in the chart whilst the 2011/12 Q4 percentage is shown at the bottom of each bar. Please note that the rates in Figure 1 are only comparable to the 2011/12 Q3 release of this report as the dependent populations have been updated to take into account new NWPHO risk group estimates and 2010 ONS population estimates. The net effect in the North East being an increase from 141,200 to 143,000 dependent drinkers with significant variation across some localities, for more information please see Appendix A. 1 Estimates of dependent population are only available for 16+ whilst NDTMS data includes all people aged 9-75 in treatment.
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PEOPLE IN SPECIALIST TREATMENT FOR ALCOHOL AS RECORDED BY NDTMS -
2011/12 QUARTER 4 UPDATE
Executive Summary
� At the end of 2011/12 in the North East, 6.2% of estimated dependent drinkers were in contact
with (accessing) specialist treatment services for main substance alcohol. This figure was similar to
the national total of 6.8%. At a local Primary Care Trust (PCT) level, Darlington had the highest
estimated percentage of dependent drinkers having accessed specialist treatment services at
13.8% whereas North Tyneside had the lowest percentage at 2.9%.
� Throughout 2011/12 the North East has seen a decrease of 5.9% in numbers in treatment (a drop
from 9,456 in 2010/11 to 8,898 currently). However, the current level of numbers in treatment has
managed to remain above the 2009/10 total of 8,531 and hopefully this can be maintained
throughout the 2012/13 totals.
� The 2011/12 Q4 data shows that there has been overall decrease in numbers accessing specialist
alcohol treatment in the North East compared to the same time last year. At the PCT level, there
were five areas experiencing increases in the numbers in treatment and seven areas experiencing
decreases; County Durham, Darlington, Hartlepool, North Tees and Northumberland had
respective increases of 0.2%, 0.4%, 8.4%, 3.4% and 7.5% compared to 2010/11 Q4.
Numbers in Treatment
� Figure 1 below shows the estimated percentage of dependent drinkers1 accessing specialist
treatment for alcohol across the North East. The overall percentage as at the end of 2010/11 Q4
(annual figure) is shown at the top of each bar in the chart whilst the 2011/12 Q4 percentage is
shown at the bottom of each bar.
� Please note that the rates in Figure 1 are only comparable to the 2011/12 Q3 release of this
report as the dependent populations have been updated to take into account new NWPHO risk
group estimates and 2010 ONS population estimates. The net effect in the North East being an
increase from 141,200 to 143,000 dependent drinkers with significant variation across some
localities, for more information please see Appendix A.
1 Estimates of dependent population are only available for 16+ whilst NDTMS data includes all people aged 9-75 in treatment.
� These rates have been calculated as a proxy measure by using as a denominator the estimated 16+
dependent population at PCT level (as calculated in the Department of Health Ready Reckoner
Tool V5.2) and all numbers in treatment have been taken from www.ndtms.net as the numerator.
� The numbers accessing treatment taken from NDTMS include those aged under 16 and are
therefore out of line with the estimated dependent population. Their exclusion would however
disclose by deduction part of the restricted NDTMS dataset. Keeping the under 16 cohort in the
calculation only has a marginal impact, for 2010/11, changing the numerator (of people accessing
treatment) in this way only reduced the rate by 0.2% for the entire North East.
Figure 1: Percentage of dependent drinkers in treatment
� Please note that not all treatment agencies within a given area report data into NDTMS,
therefore percentages for different areas in the above chart may not be directly comparable.
� At the end of 2011/12 Q4 in the North East 6.2% of estimated dependent drinkers had accessed
specialist treatment services for main substance alcohol, this figure was just below the national
total of 6.8%.
� In the Department of Health’s 2009 ‘Signs for Improvement’ document2 under High Impact
Change, there is a highlight to "Improve the effectiveness of and capacity of specialist treatment:
Ensure the provision and uptake of evidence-based specialist treatment for at least 15% of
estimated dependent drinkers in the PCT area”. At the end of 2011/12 the best performing area in
this respect was Darlington achieving an estimated 13.8% of dependent drinkers accessing
