We want your views about the way we look at substance misuse services

We've opened a consultation today asking people their views on the ways we regulate, inspect and rate specialist substance misuse services in England.

The consultation covers specialist services for people who misuse alcohol and drugs offering treatment in inpatient, community and residential settings and is open to professionals and clinicians, as well as service users and members of the public.

Our proposals come as part of our new approach to inspections. We want to make sure that services are safe, effective, caring, responsive to people’s needs and well-led.

As part of the new approach, we propose to make greater use of people’s views and care experiences, and make sure that the areas of care and treatment we look at include people who are in vulnerable circumstances or from specific and ‘seldom heard’ population groups, including people with complex needs.

Our proposed approach also involves using clinical and other experts - for example, inspectors with further training in substance misuse treatment services and people with experience of receiving care (Experts by Experience) - as part of inspection teams. Inspections will also look at transitions between different services.

Commenting on the start of the consultation, Professor Sir Mike Richards, Chief Inspector of Hospitals, said:

‘We are proposing to take a more tailored approach to this complex sector and look at the issues that matter to it. We will use inspectors with further training about substance misuse services in our inspection teams and we want to make sure we ask people who are receiving care about their treatment.'

You can see more about our proposed changes - and find out how to have your say - on the specialist substance misuse services consultation page.

The consultation runs for eight weeks and closes on 19 March 2015.