The Government has today published its Men’s Health Strategy. While this contains a welcome ambition to improve men’s health, we fear this strategy won’t deliver the change so desperately needed unless the Government offers clearer leadership and restores the planned investment that an independent review deemed necessary to address the harm related to alcohol and other drugs.
Chief Executive of Collective Voice, Dr Will Haydock, released the following statement:
The strategy is right to recognise the harm caused by alcohol and other drugs, but the Government must invest in services accordingly if it is to make a real difference. There is little to be gained by encouraging men to seek help if the services they turn to aren’t properly supported. We would welcome the opportunity to work with Ministers to restore momentum on substance use treatment and ensure we have a credible, funded plan to improve men’s health.
Alcohol and other drugs are key factors affecting men’s health today
The Government is right to highlight the health harm linked to alcohol and other drugs. The time for action has never been more urgent. With the emergence of synthetic drugs, the National Crime Agency has stated that there has never been a more dangerous time to take drugs[i], and this is reflected in the most tragic of statistics: the rate of drug-related deaths across England and Wales has risen every year since 2012. In 2024 alone 3,710 men died in this way.[ii]
Fortunately, we know that substance use treatment works to reduce harm and help people turn their lives around, delivering a good return on investment for public services and communities.[iii]
Raising awareness is not enough; there must be investment to ensure services are available
Wes Streeting talks about encouraging men to ‘come forward for healthcare’, but there must be accessible, effective, inclusive services when they do. The Health Secretary has himself talked about the current approach to healthcare being ‘unsustainable’ with a need to ‘reinvent’ elements of the model.[iv]
In 2021, an independent review led by Dame Carol Black outlined a clear 5-year programme of investment that was required to re-build the country’s drug and alcohol treatment system.[v] With the subsequent initial investment, more people accessed support than at any point since 2010[vi], but the current Government has abandoned this programme, freezing funding at Year 3 levels.[vii] This long-term funding shortfall of over £140 million annually in just one service area dwarfs the relevant spending commitments highlighted in the Men’s Health Strategy.
If the Government is serious about improving men’s health, it must commit to invest in substance use treatment according to the original plans laid out in the 2021 independent review.
The reality is that a freeze in funding must eventually lead to cuts in services, given the cost pressures on services not only from inflation and the cost of living, but also as a direct result of Government policies – notably increased employer National Insurance contributions and unfunded increases to community pharmacy charges.
The Government must lay out a clear plan of action on alcohol and other drugs
If we are to reduce harm related to alcohol and other drugs and build recovery, we need not only dedicated investment but also strategic leadership of this specific agenda from central government, reaching beyond the NHS or Department of Health and Social Care alone.
There should therefore be a comprehensive plan on alcohol and other drugs developed by the Government in partnership with a wide range of stakeholders, including service providers, the NHS, and people who use substances themselves. This plan should outline agreed priorities and the ways in which progress will be measured. These are markedly absent from the Men’s Health Strategy.
We know the key challenges in relation to alcohol and other drugs, and how to address them
There is a wealth of evidence already available to identify the actions that should be included in this plan. For example, people leaving prison have a particularly high risk of drug overdose, but the Government has not yet committed to implement the recommendation of a succession of independent reports that substance use treatment services in prisons “must be commissioned directly and separately from general healthcare contracts to ensure specialist focus and dedicated resources.”[viii]
Similarly, Dame Carol Black’s 2021 independent review of drugs called on the Government to “review by the end of 2021 to 2022 the commissioning and funding mechanisms for high-cost but low-volume services such as inpatient detoxification and residential rehabilitation. DHSC should introduce a regional or sub-regional approach to commissioning these services to ensure national coverage.” There has been no formal review, and no change in commissioning arrangements. The Government must support residential treatment services to ensure they are accessible to those who need them.
We look forward to working with the Government to improve the accessibility and effectiveness of treatment for people facing issues with alcohol and other drugs.
Notes:
[i] https://www.nationalcrimeagency.gov.uk/news/there-has-never-been-a-more-dangerous-time-to-take-drugs-says-national-crime-agency-as-annual-threat-assessment-is-published?highlight=WyJjaGlsZCIsInRyYWZmaWNraW5nIl0=
[ii] https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/birthsdeathsandmarriages/deaths/bulletins/deathsrelatedtodrugpoisoninginenglandandwales/2024registrations
[iii] Dame Carol Black’s review stated that every £1 invested in substance use treatment delivered £4 of savings to the community: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/review-of-drugs-phase-two-report/review-of-drugs-part-two-prevention-treatment-and-recovery
[iv] https://www.gov.uk/government/speeches/secretary-of-states-address-to-the-nhs-providers-conference
[v] https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/review-of-drugs-phase-two-report/review-of-drugs-part-two-prevention-treatment-and-recovery#executive-summary
[vi] Statistics available from https://www.ndtms.net/ViewIt/Adult
[vii] https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/drug-and-alcohol-treatment-and-recovery-funding-2025-to-2026/drug-and-alcohol-treatment-and-recovery-funding-allocations-2025-to-2026
[viii] See paragraph 127 at https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm5901/cmselect/cmjust/557/report.html
Collective Voice responds to the Government’s Men’s Health Strategy
The Government has today published its Men’s Health Strategy. While this contains a welcome ambition to improve men’s health, we fear this strategy won’t deliver the change so desperately needed unless the Government offers clearer leadership and restores the planned investment that an independent review deemed necessary to address the harm related to alcohol and other drugs.
Chief Executive of Collective Voice, Dr Will Haydock, released the following statement:
The strategy is right to recognise the harm caused by alcohol and other drugs, but the Government must invest in services accordingly if it is to make a real difference. There is little to be gained by encouraging men to seek help if the services they turn to aren’t properly supported. We would welcome the opportunity to work with Ministers to restore momentum on substance use treatment and ensure we have a credible, funded plan to improve men’s health.
Alcohol and other drugs are key factors affecting men’s health today
The Government is right to highlight the health harm linked to alcohol and other drugs. The time for action has never been more urgent. With the emergence of synthetic drugs, the National Crime Agency has stated that there has never been a more dangerous time to take drugs[i], and this is reflected in the most tragic of statistics: the rate of drug-related deaths across England and Wales has risen every year since 2012. In 2024 alone 3,710 men died in this way.[ii]
Fortunately, we know that substance use treatment works to reduce harm and help people turn their lives around, delivering a good return on investment for public services and communities.[iii]
Raising awareness is not enough; there must be investment to ensure services are available
Wes Streeting talks about encouraging men to ‘come forward for healthcare’, but there must be accessible, effective, inclusive services when they do. The Health Secretary has himself talked about the current approach to healthcare being ‘unsustainable’ with a need to ‘reinvent’ elements of the model.[iv]
In 2021, an independent review led by Dame Carol Black outlined a clear 5-year programme of investment that was required to re-build the country’s drug and alcohol treatment system.[v] With the subsequent initial investment, more people accessed support than at any point since 2010[vi], but the current Government has abandoned this programme, freezing funding at Year 3 levels.[vii] This long-term funding shortfall of over £140 million annually in just one service area dwarfs the relevant spending commitments highlighted in the Men’s Health Strategy.
If the Government is serious about improving men’s health, it must commit to invest in substance use treatment according to the original plans laid out in the 2021 independent review.
The reality is that a freeze in funding must eventually lead to cuts in services, given the cost pressures on services not only from inflation and the cost of living, but also as a direct result of Government policies – notably increased employer National Insurance contributions and unfunded increases to community pharmacy charges.
The Government must lay out a clear plan of action on alcohol and other drugs
If we are to reduce harm related to alcohol and other drugs and build recovery, we need not only dedicated investment but also strategic leadership of this specific agenda from central government, reaching beyond the NHS or Department of Health and Social Care alone.
There should therefore be a comprehensive plan on alcohol and other drugs developed by the Government in partnership with a wide range of stakeholders, including service providers, the NHS, and people who use substances themselves. This plan should outline agreed priorities and the ways in which progress will be measured. These are markedly absent from the Men’s Health Strategy.
We know the key challenges in relation to alcohol and other drugs, and how to address them
There is a wealth of evidence already available to identify the actions that should be included in this plan. For example, people leaving prison have a particularly high risk of drug overdose, but the Government has not yet committed to implement the recommendation of a succession of independent reports that substance use treatment services in prisons “must be commissioned directly and separately from general healthcare contracts to ensure specialist focus and dedicated resources.”[viii]
Similarly, Dame Carol Black’s 2021 independent review of drugs called on the Government to “review by the end of 2021 to 2022 the commissioning and funding mechanisms for high-cost but low-volume services such as inpatient detoxification and residential rehabilitation. DHSC should introduce a regional or sub-regional approach to commissioning these services to ensure national coverage.” There has been no formal review, and no change in commissioning arrangements. The Government must support residential treatment services to ensure they are accessible to those who need them.
We look forward to working with the Government to improve the accessibility and effectiveness of treatment for people facing issues with alcohol and other drugs.
Notes:
[i] https://www.nationalcrimeagency.gov.uk/news/there-has-never-been-a-more-dangerous-time-to-take-drugs-says-national-crime-agency-as-annual-threat-assessment-is-published?highlight=WyJjaGlsZCIsInRyYWZmaWNraW5nIl0=
[ii] https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/birthsdeathsandmarriages/deaths/bulletins/deathsrelatedtodrugpoisoninginenglandandwales/2024registrations
[iii] Dame Carol Black’s review stated that every £1 invested in substance use treatment delivered £4 of savings to the community: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/review-of-drugs-phase-two-report/review-of-drugs-part-two-prevention-treatment-and-recovery
[iv] https://www.gov.uk/government/speeches/secretary-of-states-address-to-the-nhs-providers-conference
[v] https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/review-of-drugs-phase-two-report/review-of-drugs-part-two-prevention-treatment-and-recovery#executive-summary
[vi] Statistics available from https://www.ndtms.net/ViewIt/Adult
[vii] https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/drug-and-alcohol-treatment-and-recovery-funding-2025-to-2026/drug-and-alcohol-treatment-and-recovery-funding-allocations-2025-to-2026
[viii] See paragraph 127 at https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm5901/cmselect/cmjust/557/report.html
Related Content
Collective Voice calls on Government to accept and implement the recommendations of the Justice Committee inquiry on drugs in prisons
We call on the Government to accept the key recommendations of the inquiry and work with stakeholders – including our members – to implement them
Collective Voice calls on Government to prioritise reducing harm from drugs
Every one of these deaths is a tragedy – and we should be doing more as a society to prevent them. ONS 2024 data on
Collective Voice responds to the Government’s consultation on the Autumn Budget
The Government has set out admirable ideas and principles in the 10-year health plan and the response to the Independent Sentencing Review, as well as