Written question asked by Lindsay Hoyle (Labour) on Monday, 22 March 2010, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Thursday, 25 March 2010. It was answered by Baroness Merron (Labour) on Thursday, 25 March 2010 on behalf of the Department of Health.

Drugs: Alcoholic Drinks

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether a recent assessment has been made of the effectiveness of drug and alcohol rehabilitation services in (a) Chorley, (b) Lancashire and (c) primary care trusts in the North West.

Answer: Primary care trusts (PCTs) are responsible for providing and commissioning health services to meet the health care needs of their local populations. It also for PCTs to consider the effectiveness of services commissioned. This includes the provision of drug and alcohol rehabilitation services.The Department and the National Treatment Agency for Substance Misuse (NTA) provide advice, guidance and data to help PCTs better understand their local drug and alcohol service needs. Local drug commissioning partnerships are responsible for commissioning drug treatment services from national health service and voluntary sector organisations, and all partnerships will produce local drug treatment plans that set out how they plan to improve the delivery of drug treatment locally. The NTA's regional teams will monitor the performance of partnerships and the services they commission by measuring performance against locally set targets, which are set out in treatment plans.The NTA's north-west regional team assesses the performance of the Lancashire Drug and Alcohol Action Team, and the drug services it commissions, on an annual and ongoing basis.

Secondary information