Abstract
AbstractA cross‐sectional survey of clinical staff was carried out among statutory (public sector) substance misuse services and community mental health teams (CMHTs) in an inner London borough. We identified 368 current patients of drug and alcohol misuse services and 930 current patients of CMHTs. We measured the prevalence of co‐morbid substance misuse and mental illness among these patients. We found strong evidence of co‐morbid mental health problems in 128 substance misuse patients (34.8%) and evidence of possible co‐morbidity in a further 18.5% of cases. Among mental health service patients, 227 (24%) were reported to have current substance misuse problems. Shared care of patients was uncommon and only a minority of co‐morbid patients received treatment for both problems or the specialist assessment which key workers felt they needed. The findings suggest that co‐morbidity is highly prevalent among mental health and substance misuse patients. Further research is needed to corroborate these findings, but the development and provision of evidence‐based treatment and service interventions is likely to become an increasing priority.
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