As a specialist in addiction, mental health, and food disorders with a 20-year history of seeing our clients return to full and meaningful lives, Gladstones Clinic would like to congratulate you on taking the first step towards recovery. The sad reality is that many people suffering from complex disorders, including substance addiction, often never take this critical first step of seeking professional help, instead continuing on a downward spiral of an ever-decreasing quality of life and increased risk of morbidity.
Whether you choose Gladstones Clinic or someone else for your rehab or support needs, we wholeheartedly hope that you find the professional help you are looking for and see a full and speedy recovery.
Yours sincerely,
Wajahat Choudhry,
Founder, Gladstones Clinic
The journey towards rehab for UK citizens often starts with a decision; go for state-funded treatment through the NHS, or private rehab. While we are fortunate enough to have access to state-funded rehab treatments, the reality is that many of these service suppliers are facing massive backlogs due to the more than 275,000 patients they see each year. On the flip side, private rehab service providers, whether offering residential stays or focusing on day care, provide easily accessible and high-quality rehabilitation programmes, provided you have the financial means to pay for them.
See our recent article titled ‘How much does private alcohol rehab cost?’ for more information on how much different types of private rehab cost. Although this article mainly focuses on alcohol rehab, drug rehab services are very similarly priced.
Although the NHS offers several different types of detox and rehab services, it does not directly provide residential rehab and treatment services, the first image that comes to mind when thinking of rehab. It is technically possible to get NHS funding for privately run rehab clinics; however, in practice, NHS patients aren’t referred to residential rehab until other avenues have been explored. It can take months to years from the first consultation to inpatient admission; time that many looking for rehab simply cannot afford to spend waiting.
Accepting this, getting meaningful access to NHS rehab services requires an understanding of what rehab and support programmes are available and suited to your needs, and getting a GP referral.
Below, you’ll find a breakdown of the different types of rehabilitation programmes available through the NHS. Consult your GP for more information on which programme would be most beneficial to you.
Drugs, alcohol, and other abused substances may produce both mental and physical dependencies that cause pain, discomfort, and more. While the psychological effects of withdrawal are often uncomfortable, they typically don’t pose much threat to your physical well-being. Physical withdrawal symptoms for certain substances, on the other hand, may cause a wide range of painful, dangerous, and even potentially lethal symptoms.
The NHS, with a doctor’s referral, might prescribe certain medications for alcohol or opioid abuse to help both in- and out-patients deal with severe withdrawal effects. Ideally, medications such as methadone and buprenorphine (for the management of opioid withdrawal symptoms) would be administered and monitored in an inpatient setting; however, the number of people seeking treatment for substance abuse in the UK outnumbers the beds available for this purpose.
The NHS offers addiction counselling similar to the types of therapies used in private residential rehab facilities. However, due to the large number of people seeking treatment and the limited number of qualified personnel available, the delay between your GP referral and the start of treatment may last for several weeks or even months.
Depending on your needs and the NHS resources available in your region, addiction counselling could be provided in your own home. Addiction counselling could involve a treatment mix that includes elements of CBT and DBT therapies, family therapy, 12-step therapy, and group therapies.
The NHS works alongside hundreds of organisations, community groups, support networks, and other NGOs that support addiction recovery and rehab. These organisations are often a lifeline to those without insurance or who cannot otherwise access residential rehab services. NHS referrals could help open doors to:
By and large, when people talk about ‘rehab’, they are referring to private residential rehab. Private residential rehab typically involves four weeks of intensive therapy in a specialised facility and provides access to some sort of aftercare or secondary treatment programme. Many people see this combination of intensive therapy during the first month of sobriety, followed by post-treatment support, as the easiest and most direct route to recovery.
Private residential rehab clinics, although more costly than NHS services, tend to be able to see to their patients’ needs on much tighter timelines than the public sector. Although many of their patients are referred by GPs, private clinics do not all require referrals and often have their own staff capable of diagnosing and treating addictions and disorders. Simply making contact by phone or email can lead to admission anywhere from within a few hours to just a few days.
It’s important to remember that private rehab encompasses many types of rehab services. Our guide to ‘How much does private alcohol rehab cost?’ discusses other types of private rehab in more detail, along with their associated costs.
Contact Gladstones today. Our discreet operators will gladly talk you through our streamlined admissions process.
Getting into rehab typically involves:
Making first contact
People looking for rehab services search the internet and compare different clinics, service providers, and treatment programmes. Whether you make contact by phone or email, the clinic will most likely get back to you with a series of questions to help determine your treatment specifics and pricing.
Having the following information on hand when making contact can help speed up this process:
An interview
After receiving all the particulars of your disorder, the clinic will most likely schedule a follow-up interview. This interview allows the clinic’s practitioner to make a formal diagnosis if one has not been provided, discuss the treatment programme in detail, give the patient a chance to ask questions, and finalise the treatment commencement date.
Admission and treatment
Upon admission and familiarising yourself with your room and the clinic, you will almost certainly start your rehab programme with detox before settling into a treatment routine for the next few weeks.Secondary, tertiary, and aftercare services
Private residential rehab service providers usually make some sort of aftercare or post-treatment programme available. Your chosen clinic will make sure to provide you with all the information you need to maintain your sobriety.
Getting into rehab in the UK largely means weighing up the pros and cons of NHS vs. privately funded treatment. Although the NHS does provide a range of industry-standard rehab services and practices, including referrals for residential rehab, funding cuts and other service delivery issues continue to keep many waiting for treatment.
Individuals with private insurance or the means of paying for private rehab often pick this option. Although each clinic’s exact procedure for admitting new patients might vary slightly, as privately run organisations, the admission process is typically straightforward and client-friendly.
Gladstones Clinic wishes you the best in your journey to recovery. Please consult the resources below for more information about rehab and addiction treatment.
