The Substance Misuse Skills Consortium is an independent, sector-led initiative to harness the ideas, energy and talent within the substance misuse treatment field, to maximise the ability of the workforce, and to help more drug and alcohol misusers recover.
The Consortium will help the substance misuse treatment sector to:
- Identify what the treatment workforce needs to promote and sustain better outcomes for service users, their families and communities
- Review and develop initiatives to attract and retain the workforce
- Equip practitioners and managers with the relevant skills
Consortium members include treatment providers, service users and carers, and professional and membership organisations for those working in substance misuse treatment. If you would like to join the Consortium, you can find out more here.
The Skills Consortium represents a significant opportunity for employers, clinicians, service users and others to develop a consensus on effective practice to achieve recovery, and to work together to equip the workforce to help service users succeed in treatment.
Paul Hayes, NTA chief executive
These are times of significant change. It is vital the sector works together and takes ownership of this important agenda.
William Butler, chair of the Substance Misuse Skills Consortium
The terms of reference for the Consortium are available here.
Background
A large number of substance misuse treatment organisations met with the NTA in 2009 to consider ways to maximise the skills of the workforce and how the sector might drive this process. A core group then developed proposals for the consortium's constitution and a drug misuse treatment skills framework.
A meeting in June 2010 agreed that the Consortium should be simply but formally constituted as an independent network, closely supported by the NTA during its evolution over the next year to 18 months. This meeting also endorsed the proposed ‘Skills Framework’ as a basis for the work of the Consortium. The framework is a conceptual model of drug treatment and constitutes a consensus on effective treatment. The framework was also endorsed by the stakeholder group and agreed as the basis of an online resource for practitioners and managers.
Alcohol
The Consortium is being initially supported by the National Treatment Agency for Substance Misuse. Its establishment was a priority in the NTA’s 2009 and 2010 business plans and the NTA is currently providing the secretariat to the Consortium. The Consortium will address both drugs and alcohol treatment workforce issues. The website and resources in the Skills Hub initially focus on drug treatment as this is the NTA’s remit. As the Consortium establishes itself and builds its own capability it will address alcohol treatment issues as well. The intention is that the NTA will withdraw from its more proactive role and provision of the secretariat in 2011. The Consortium will also link in with and promote workforce initiates being undertaken by the Department of Health.