Drug and Alcohol Treatment Waiting Times
Data and Resources
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Number of Referrals CSV
Number of referrals to specialist drug and alcohol services.
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Source of ReferralsCSV
Source of referrals to specialist drug and alcohol services.
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Completed WaitsCSV
Waiting times for completed waits (referrals that started treatment) and...
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Ongoing WaitsCSV
Waiting times for ongoing waits (referrals waiting to start treatment).
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Demographic DataCSV
Demographic information on those starting treatment at specialist drug and...
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Treatment Types CSV
Types of treatments started at specialist drug and alcohol services.
Additional Info
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Source | Drug and Alcohol Information System (DAISy) and the Drug and Alcohol Waiting Times (DATWT) Database. |
| Author | Drugs Team, Public Health Scotland |
| Last Updated | March 25, 2025, 09:36 (GMT) |
| Created | September 27, 2022, 10:06 (BST) |
| Contact Address | Public Health Scotland Drugs Team, Gyle Square, 1 South Gyle Crescent, Edinburgh EH12 9EB |
| Subject | Drug and Alcohol Treatment Waiting Times |
| Frequency | Quarterly |
| Time frame of data and timeliness | 1 quarter in arrears |
| Coverage | Drug and alcohol treatment waiting times for the most recent financial year quarter, as well as the four proceeding quarters. Data are broken down by NHS Board, Alcohol and Drug Partnerships (ADP), service type (community-based, prison-based or all services (both community-based and prison-based)) and substance type (alcohol, drugs or co-dependency (both alcohol and drugs)). |
| Completeness | Alcohol and Drug Partnerships (ADPs) have the responsibility of ensuring services are submitting accurate and up-to-date information. Services are excluded from these data tables where ADPs were unable to confirm that their data were accurate and up-to-date. Details on the number of individual services within ADPs that have been excluded due to the absence of complete data can be found in the quarterly publications, (see link 1 below). |
| Accuracy | Quality checks are conducted by Public Health Scotland. Figures are compared to previously published data and expected trends. |
| Continuity of data | These data were extracted from the Drug and Alcohol Information System (DAISy) and its predecessor the Drug and Alcohol Treatment Waiting Times (DATWT) database. DAISy introduced changes to how data is captured and these should be kept in mind when making comparisons with historic data. First, a "co-dependency" user type was added for cases where the referral relates to treatment for both alcohol and drug use. Second, a new continuation of care process was introduced, which affects how referrals are recorded when people move between services. It is anticipated that this will result in a decrease in the number of new referrals being recorded in DAISy compared to previous processes in place for the DATWT database. |
| Disclosure | The Public Health Scotland Statistical Disclosure Control Protocol was followed (see link 2 below). |
| Revision statement | All data are revised quarterly to reflect any changes and to ensure the most complete information is presented. Figures contained within each release may be subject to change in future releases as data submissions from ADPs may be updated to confirm data for services are accurate and up-to-date. |
| Official statistics designation | National Statistics |
| Relevance and key uses of the statistics | Relevant to understanding access to specialist drug and alcohol treatment services. Waiting times are important to patients and are a high profile measure of how the NHS in Scotland is responding to demand for services. Statistics will be used for policy making, service planning, and research. They are also of wider public interest. |
| Format | csv |
| Language | English |
| Links | 1) https://publichealthscotland.scot/publications/show-all-releases?id=20553 2) https://publichealthscotland.scot/publications/statistical-disclosure-protocol/statistical-disclosure-protocol/ |