‘Grave Cause for Concern’? Private Practice, Professional Disputes and the Treatment of Heroin Addiction in Britain During the 1980s

Abstract

This article examines the debate surrounding the role played by private doctors in the treatment of heroin addiction in Britain during the 1980s. Whilst there were a number of problems connected with the treatment of addiction in private practice, this debate was something of a surface issue masking a deeper professional dispute. The involvement of general practitioners, whether in private or National Health Service practice, posed a threat to the recently established specialist status of psychiatrists working in the field. This came at a time when the specialist psychiatric approach to drug addition was increasingly being challenged by other non-medical agencies.