National drug and alcohol treatment waiting times 1 October 2024 to 31 December 2024:

During the quarter ending 31 December 2024:

• 9,429 referrals were made to community-based specialist drug and alcohol treatment services: 4,727 (50.1%) were for problematic use of alcohol, 3,397 (36.0%) for problematic use of drugs, and 1,305 (13.8%) for co-dependency (use of both alcohol and drugs).
• 6,578 referrals to community-based services started treatment. Of these, 6,282 (95.5%) involved a wait of three weeks or less. Excluding NHS Shetland, all NHS Boards met the Standard, marking the first time this has been achieved since reporting from Drug and Alcohol Information System (DAISy) began in April 2021.
• Nationally, the Standard was met for referrals to community-based services across all substances: drugs (96.9%), co-dependency (96.3%) and alcohol (94.4%).
• 861 referrals were made to prison-based services. Of these, 695 (80.7%) were for people seeking help for problematic use of drugs.
• 328 referrals to prison-based services started treatment. Of these, 302 (92.1%) involved a wait of three weeks or less (alcohol, 100.0%; co-dependency, 98.6%; drugs, 88.9%).

As of 31 December 2024:

• 1,678 community-based service referrals had not started treatment. Of these, 335 (19.9%) involved a wait of more than three weeks.
• 27 prison-based service referrals had not started treatment. Of these, 15 (55.5%) involved a wait of more than three weeks.

National drug and alcohol treatment waiting times 1 April 2024 to 30 June 2024:

During the quarter ending 30 June:

• 10,688 referrals were made to community-based specialist drug and alcohol treatment services: 5,432 (50.8%) were for problematic use of alcohol, 3,770 (35.3%) for problematic use of drugs, and 1,486 (13.9%) for co-dependency.
• 7,361 referrals to community-based services started treatment. Of these, 6,860 (93.2%) involved a wait of three weeks or less. Three NHS Boards did not meet the Standard (Tayside, 89.6%; Highland, 87.2%; Lothian, 86.8%).
• Nationally, the Standard was met for referrals to community-based services across all substances: drugs (95.1%), alcohol (92.2%) and co-dependency (92.1%).
• 1,113 referrals were made to prison-based services. Of these, 890 (80.0%) were for people seeking help for problematic use of drugs.
• 400 referrals to prison-based services started treatment. Of these, 380 (95.0%) involved a wait of three weeks or less (alcohol, 96.9%; co-dependency, 95.9%; drugs, 94.5%).

As of 30 June 2024:

• 2,142 community-based service referrals had not started treatment. Of these, 307 (14.3%) involved a wait of more than three weeks.
• 40 prison-based service referrals had not started treatment. Of these, 16 (40.0%) involved a wait of more than three weeks.