Specialist alcohol treatment services fail to meet need in Scotland

doi:10.1136/bmj.b3259

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Bryan Christie

¹Edinburgh

One in four adults in Scotland (27.9%) is drinking alcohol at potentially harmful levels, and specialist treatment services are inadequate to meet the demand for help. These are the stark conclusions of a report from the Institute of Psychiatry, which recommends the expansion of treatment services throughout the country.

The report concludes that 206 000 (4.9%) of Scots are alcohol dependent, but only one in 12 of this group (17 000) have access to specialist treatment. Every area of Scotland has a low level of access, as measured by North American standards. The …