Stabilisation, detoxification and other crisis support in Scotland: Service mapping and capacity survey 2022/23

1. Introduction

The level of harms from alcohol and drugs in Scotland are high in comparison to the rest of the UK and Europe, and causes avoidable damage to people's lives, families, and communities. Tackling the high level of drug related deaths in Scotland is a priority for the Scottish Government. In January 2021, Nicola Sturgeon, in her role as First Minister, made a statement to Parliament that set out a National Mission to reduce drug deaths through improvements to treatment, recovery and other support services.

In January 2023, the Scottish Government published a cross-government plan of approach in response to recommendations made by the Drug Deaths Task Force (DDTF). It outlined commitments to increase funding for stabilisation and to explore the options for a national fund to establish and expand stabilisation and crisis services in response to the recommendations made by the DDTF. The Stabilisation and Crisis Care Working Group was established in September 2023 to advise Scottish Ministers on how to meet these commitments. This includes advising on a programme of work on the provision of these services across Scotland and to develop a recognised definition of stabilisation for a Scottish context. The DDTF used this term to refer to harm-reduction services that offer a place of safety in which to provide people with treatment and other support to manage their substance use^[1].

To support the work of the working group, analysts from Health and Social Care Analysis developed a survey to map the provision and capacity of stabilisation, detoxification and other crisis support services. The findings from this survey were intended to help inform the working group's recommendations and to gather evidence to help inform a definition of stabilisation.

This report presents the findings from the survey of stabilisation, detoxification and other crisis support providers in Scotland. In addition to seeking to establish the current levels of provision and capacity for each of these services in Scotland, this report presents the findings of the survey with regard to how they are governed and funded; how they operate and how patient outcomes are measured. It concludes by suggesting a possible definition of stabilisation that may serve to inform future work in this area.