Influences on the provision of drug services in England: the experiences and views of front line treatment workers.

Whilst service users' views of treatment have been explored, little research exists that has examined front line treatment workers' views on what they perceive are the facilitators and barriers to service provision. This study aimed to fill that gap using a qualitative methodology to explore the experiences of treatment workers. A purposive sample of four Drugs Action Teams or Drug and Alcohol Teams was selected and, in total, 32 front line treatment workers were interviewed across a range of services. Participants indicated that the influences on treatment delivery occurred at three levels. The first level was structural impacts. These included the degree to which services were resourced, the role of targets and a competitive tendering environment, and challenges to partnership working between criminal justice services and community-based services. At the second level, participants identified the influence of the local organisation of services, in particular, the importance of co-ordination in care planning and streamlining for complex cases. The final level was the impact of specific working practices. Good communication was seen as facilitating information sharing; however, a lack of support by management could undermine the benefits of both supervision and peer-support. Unmet training needs were identified by staff across a range of services and particular issues in the relationship between drug treatment and mental health services were identified. Overall, the participants indicated that drug treatment in England was delivered within a complex structure by services that had varied treatment philosophies and that sometimes competed for funding. Despite this, the system was seen as functioning due to the high level of commitment of the people who work within it. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]