Substance Misuse in Wales, Quarterly Statistics.
These quarterly statistics present summary information relating to treatment services for substance misuse, including data on activity by drug and alcohol. The data only relates to people attending treatment services for substance misuse and as a result only represents a proportion of all substance misusers.
The source of the data is the Welsh National Database for Substance Misuse (WNDSM). It contains details of all referrals to drug and alcohol agencies in Wales and is held by NHS Wales Informatics Service. The database is dynamic, that is, records are subject to amendment as further information is submitted by agencies. This means that figures from the previous four quarters will inevitably be revised and this should be considered when interpreting the data. Consequently when data is published for the fifth time for a specific quarter it will be marked as “final”, until then it will be marked as "provisional". Data on this subject is also published in an annual report in October. Please note that the quarterly and annual statistics are not directly comparable, specifically because clients who did not attend (DNA) at a very early stage i.e. before assessment are not included throughout the annual report tables but are included here in the quarterly statistics.
Some of the data presented is used to measure Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) to support the performance management of substance misuse treatment services in Wales. This includes a performance indicator to achieve a waiting time of within 20 working days between referral and the start of treatment. This indicator is also included in the Welsh Government's Programme for Government.
Assessments, treatment starts and closures may relate to any referral since April 2005 when the database was established.
Quarterly
April 2021 until June 2023
For information on users, uses and context please see the linked annual publication and Quality Report.
In each quarterly publication, data for the previous four quarters is revised in order to include amendments to records.
A number of agencies transferred to the Welsh Community Care Information System (WCCIS) in 2022. Work is taking place to produce a regular national extract from the system, and until the reporting is completed, there are likely to be gaps in the data submitted.
Summary of quarterly activity
15th November 2023
February 2024
Digital Health & Care Wales (DHCW)
substancemisuse-queries@wales.nhs.uk
Management information
Wales
Wales
English and Welsh
You may use and re-use this data free of charge in any format or medium, under the terms of the Open Government License - see http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence
Previous StatsWales statistics:
https://statswales.gov.wales/Catalogue/Health-and-Social-Care/Substance-MisuseAnnual treatment statistics:
https://www.gov.wales/substance-misuse-annual-reportsSubstance Misuse
All Service Providers in receipt of Welsh Government funding, either directly or via the Community Safety Partnerships, to deliver substance misuse services are required to comply fully with the reporting requirements of the database.
The Welsh Government’s Substance Misuse Advisory Regional Teams (SMARTs) have been working with treatment services to improve data quality. For the purpose of this release, the data quality issues that affect these statistics are:
Some agencies are failing to close cases where a client is transferred between agencies. This means that some individuals will be counted more than once on the database.
It is possible that some referral and / or treatment dates have been incorrectly added to the client records resulting in longer than expected delays in treatment. Any records which appear erroneous are investigated but it is not always possible for the treatment agencies, particularly the smaller ones, to verify and update their records.
A number of agencies may not complete all of the relevant fields on the database by the time the quarterly data is extracted.
A number of agencies transferred to the Welsh Community Care Information System (WCCIS) in 2022. Work is taking place to produce a regular national extract from the system, and until the reporting is completed, there are likely to be gaps in the data submitted.
| Date | ||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Apr-Jun 2021 ⓘ
Revised and Final. Data as at 30th September 2022
|
Jul-Sep 2021 ⓘ
Revised and Final. Data as at 31st December 2022
|
Oct-Dec 2021 ⓘ
Revised and Final. Data as at 31st March 2023
|
Jan-Mar 2022 ⓘ
Revised and Final. Data as at 31st July 2023 ⓘ
|
Apr-Jun 2022 ⓘ
Revised and Final. Data as at 30th September 2023
|
Jul-Sep 2022 ⓘ
Revised and Provisional. Data as at 30th September 2023
|
Oct-Dec 2022 ⓘ
Revised and Provisional. Data as at 30th September 2023
|
Jan-Mar 2023 ⓘ
Revised and Provisional. Data as at 30th September 2023
|
Apr-Jun 2023 ⓘ
Provisional. Data as at 30th September 2023
|
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| Stage of non-attendance ⓘ
Includes records where the client did not attend prior to assessment.
|
Number ⓘ
Cases closed during the quarter in any of the categories below.
|
Percentage ⓘ
Percentage of all cases closed during the quarter in any of the categories below.
|
Number ⓘ
Cases closed during the quarter in any of the categories below.
|
Percentage ⓘ
Percentage of all cases closed during the quarter in any of the categories below.
|
Number ⓘ
Cases closed during the quarter in any of the categories below.
|
Percentage ⓘ
Percentage of all cases closed during the quarter in any of the categories below.
|
Number ⓘ
Cases closed during the quarter in any of the categories below.
|
Percentage ⓘ
Percentage of all cases closed during the quarter in any of the categories below.
|
Number ⓘ
Cases closed during the quarter in any of the categories below.
|
Percentage ⓘ
Percentage of all cases closed during the quarter in any of the categories below.
|
Number ⓘ
Cases closed during the quarter in any of the categories below.
|
Percentage ⓘ
Percentage of all cases closed during the quarter in any of the categories below.
|
Number ⓘ
Cases closed during the quarter in any of the categories below.
|
Percentage ⓘ
Percentage of all cases closed during the quarter in any of the categories below.
|
Number ⓘ
Cases closed during the quarter in any of the categories below.
|
Percentage ⓘ
Percentage of all cases closed during the quarter in any of the categories below.
|
Number ⓘ
Cases closed during the quarter in any of the categories below.
|
Percentage ⓘ
Percentage of all cases closed during the quarter in any of the categories below.
|
| Referred to another service | 858 | 13.9 | 927 | 13.3 | 825 | 12.6 | 983 | 14.0 | 1,104 | 15.1 | 1,314 | 17.2 | 850 | 11.8 | 855 | 12.0 | 725 | 10.8 |
| Planned - moved to GP-led prescribing ⓘ
Introduced in April 2014.
|
25 | 0.4 | 34 | 0.5 | 26 | 0.4 | 12 | 0.2 | 17 | 0.2 | 15 | 0.2 | 17 | 0.2 | 10 | 0.1 | 15 | 0.2 |
| Planned - Treatment complete ⓘ
Client has reached their treatment goal(s) as agreed at commencement of treatment.
|
1,645 | 26.6 | 1,868 | 26.8 | 1,787 | 27.4 | 1,786 | 25.4 | 1,957 | 26.7 | 1,884 | 24.6 | 2,076 | 28.9 | 2,124 | 29.9 | 1,931 | 28.9 |
|
Planned - Treatment complete-substance free ⓘ
Client no longer requires a treatment intervention and is judged by the case worker as not using any of the reported problematic substances.
|
985 | 15.9 | 1,086 | 15.6 | 1,018 | 15.6 | 1,093 | 15.6 | 982 | 13.4 | 963 | 12.6 | 767 | 10.7 | 741 | 10.4 | 687 | 10.3 |
|
Unplanned - client unaware of referral ⓘ
Introduced in April 2014, although some older records may have been updated to reflect this new reference code.
|
4 | 0.1 | 4 | 0.1 | 6 | 0.1 | 16 | 0.2 | 5 | 0.1 | 12 | 0.2 | 36 | 0.5 | 18 | 0.3 | 31 | 0.5 |
|
Unplanned - client declined treatment ⓘ
Introduced in April 2014, although some older records may have been updated to reflect this new reference code.
|
496 | 8.0 | 575 | 8.2 | 589 | 9.0 | 668 | 9.5 | 610 | 8.3 | 595 | 7.8 | 572 | 8.0 | 591 | 8.3 | 538 | 8.0 |
| Unplanned - deceased | 81 | 1.3 | 58 | 0.8 | 66 | 1.0 | 74 | 1.1 | 86 | 1.2 | 81 | 1.1 | 87 | 1.2 | 80 | 1.1 | 74 | 1.1 |
| Unplanned - moved | 87 | 1.4 | 120 | 1.7 | 96 | 1.5 | 84 | 1.2 | 103 | 1.4 | 95 | 1.2 | 86 | 1.2 | 90 | 1.3 | 96 | 1.4 |
| Unplanned - prison | 392 | 6.3 | 356 | 5.1 | 291 | 4.5 | 308 | 4.4 | 345 | 4.7 | 348 | 4.5 | 351 | 4.9 | 404 | 5.7 | 358 | 5.4 |
|
Unplanned - treatment withdrawn by provider ⓘ
The treatment service provider has withdrawn treatment provision from the client, usually as a result of a breach of contract.
|
36 | 0.6 | 40 | 0.6 | 34 | 0.5 | 36 | 0.5 | 47 | 0.6 | 49 | 0.6 | 62 | 0.9 | 41 | 0.6 | 57 | 0.9 |
| DNA before assessment | 423 | 6.8 | 562 | 8.1 | 509 | 7.8 | 587 | 8.4 | 558 | 7.6 | 727 | 9.5 | 804 | 11.2 | 668 | 9.4 | 709 | 10.6 |
| DNA before treatment | 58 | 0.9 | 89 | 1.3 | 81 | 1.2 | 85 | 1.2 | 79 | 1.1 | 174 | 2.3 | 132 | 1.8 | 128 | 1.8 | 162 | 2.4 |
| DNA during treatment | 332 | 5.4 | 367 | 5.3 | 328 | 5.0 | 338 | 4.8 | 394 | 5.4 | 331 | 4.3 | 323 | 4.5 | 392 | 5.5 | 351 | 5.2 |
|
Inappropriate Referral ⓘ
Client has been contacted following a third party referral and states they are not ready to engage in treatment or when assessed there is no treatment need for the client.
|
761 | 12.3 | 883 | 12.7 | 864 | 13.2 | 939 | 13.4 | 1,031 | 14.1 | 1,062 | 13.9 | 1,009 | 14.0 | 947 | 13.3 | 945 | 14.1 |
|
No information supplied ⓘ
A discharge date has been submitted with a blank discharge reason.
|
11 | 0.2 | 10 | 0.1 | 6 | 0.1 | 9 | 0.1 | 16 | 0.2 | 7 | 0.1 | 12 | 0.2 | 10 | 0.1 | 8 | 0.1 |
| Total | 6,194 | 100 | 6,979 | 100 | 6,526 | 100 | 7,018 | 100 | 7,334 | 100 | 7,657 | 100 | 7,184 | 100 | 7,099 | 100 | 6,687 | 100 |
|
Treatment complete ⓘ
Client discharged as treatment complete or treatment complete substance free with a recorded treatment date.
|
2,340 | 84.9 | 2,489 | 85.5 | 2,319 | 85.8 | 2,358 | 85.0 | 2,365 | 83.4 | 2,324 | 85.2 | 2,247 | 84.1 | 2,395 | 83.7 | 2,159 | 82.9 |
|
Treatment complete denominator ⓘ
The denominator excludes all closure reasons where there is no treatment date, and also excludes inappropriate referral, client declined treatment and client unaware of referral, as there's unlikely to be a treatment date.
|
2,755 | . | 2,912 | . | 2,702 | . | 2,773 | . | 2,836 | . | 2,729 | . | 2,672 | . | 2,860 | . | 2,605 | . |
| Planned closures - sub total | 3,513 | 56.7 | 3,915 | 56.1 | 3,656 | 56.0 | 3,874 | 55.2 | 4,060 | 55.4 | 4,176 | 54.5 | 3,710 | 51.6 | 3,730 | 52.5 | 3,358 | 50.2 |