The National Treatment Agency for Substance Misuse (NTA) is seeking comments on the first national care planning toolkit for clients of drug misuse treatment services in England.
The draft toolkit, published today, aims to help drug workers to understand the concepts behind care planning and provides a practical guide to improving care planning in drug treatment.
Effective care planning is crucial to improving clients journeys through drug treatment but current practice is variable, says Dr Emily Finch, NTA clinical lead and author of the toolkit. The NTA toolkit aims to provide workers with a framework for developing and reviewing care plans in partnership with their clients. The tool focuses on ensuring that clients receive the most appropriate care and that there is constant progress in terms of their drug and alcohol misuse, physical and psychological health, social functioning and criminal activity.
I urge everyone in the sector service users, their carer, drug workers and commissioners to take part in this consultation. This is a real opportunity to influence an essential part of drug treatment.
The toolkit is in line with the NTAs updated framework for commissioning and delivering treatment - Models of care for the treatment of adult drug misusers: Update 2005 which is also out for consultation today, and the NTAs treatment effectiveness agenda launched earlier this summer. The toolkit includes a set of proforma documents, which can be copied or adapted for use by drug treatment services.
The NTA is seeking comments on a range of issues relating to the toolkit including:
Accessibility and user-friendliness
Applicability to all forms of structured treatment
The concept of stages in the treatment journey in care planning
Service user and carer involvement in care planning
Initial care plans
The consultation version of the toolkit and corresponding consultation
questionnaire are available on the NTA website at www.nta.nhs.uk. Responses should be sent to consultation@nta-nhs.org.uk by Friday 27 January 2006.
Posted: 3rd November 2005
