National drug and alcohol treatment waiting times 1 January 2025 to 31 March 2025:

• 10,233 referrals were made to community-based specialist drug and alcohol treatment services: 5,012 (49.0%) were for problematic use of alcohol, 3,845 (37.6%) for problematic use of drugs, and 1,376 (13.4%) for co-dependency (problematic use of both alcohol and drugs).
• 6,863 referrals to community-based services started treatment. Of these, 6,377 (92.9%) involved a wait of three weeks or less. Two NHS Boards did not meet the Standard (Lothian, 89.4%; Highland, 87.5%).
• Nationally, the Standard was met for referrals to community-based services across all substances: drugs (96.1%), co-dependency (93.9%) and alcohol (90.5%).
• 789 referrals were made to prison-based services. Of these, 629 (79.7%) were for people seeking help for problematic use of drugs, 122 (15.5%) for co-dependency and 38 (4.8%) for problematic use of alcohol.
• 316 referrals to prison-based services started treatment. Of these, 283 (89.5%) involved a wait of three weeks or less. Four out of nine NHS Boards with prison-based services did not meet the Standard (Ayrshire & Arran, 85.7%; Lothian, 83.0%; Highland, 70.0%; Tayside, 37.5%).
• Nationally, for the first time since reporting from the Drug and Alcohol Information System (DAISy) began in April 2021, the Standard was not met for referrals to prison-based services (89.5%). Across substance types, the Standard was met for co-dependency (90.6%) and drugs (90.4%) but not for alcohol (78.2%).