DTORS

In 2009, the Department of Health launched the Drug Treatment Outcomes Research Study (DTORS) to give fresh evidence on how drug treatment has changed since the NTORS project. The project surveyed 2000 patients about their treatment, then followed it up after 3-5 months and again after a year. The purpose of the project was to assess the quality of treatment as well as the cost benefits of it.

The key findings of the study are:

• Drug treatment is effective not only in treating addiction, but also reducing the harmful behaviours associated with drug abuse.
• Personal motivation is crucial to recovery from drug addiction.
• Patients have different needs, treatment needs to be flexible to reflect this.
• The criminal justice system (CJS) provides excellent drug treatment, which is equal to that outside of the CJS.
• Drug treatment has financial benefits.

For more information on the Drug Treatment Outcomes Research Study, visit the Department of Health website.