From addiction to recovery — why we need person-centred care
In North Yorkshire, individuals seeking help for drug and alcohol addiction face multifaceted challenges. Recent data underscores the necessity for person-centred approaches that address not only substance use but also the underlying factors contributing to addiction.
Key issues in people’s feedback:
People using local drug and alcohol addiction services have said they are struggling to get the help that they needed:
- People struggling with addiction often have complex and multifaceted needs—such as trauma, mental health issues, or housing insecurity—that aren't always addressed by traditional treatment services.
- Addiction services often fail to treat people as whole individuals, which can make sustained recovery difficult.
- Current treatment pathways are frequently disjointed, involving multiple services with limited coordination, making access confusing and frustrating.
- People’s experiences vary greatly, often depending on the empathy and understanding of service staff and whether they are offered real choice in their treatment.
- Despite challenges, some people shared stories of effective and successful services, especially when support felt personalised and consistent.
These issues highlight why a person-centred approach—one that sees beyond the addiction and works with the whole person—is essential.
The importance of individualised care
North Yorkshire Horizons—the county’s adult drug and alcohol recovery service—offers a more integrated, person-centred model. Between 2022 and 2023, the service achieved the following:
- 2,545 individuals engaged in structured treatment
- 18,549 interventions were carried out
- 978 people achieved their recovery goals
These figures demonstrate the positive impact of personalised, sustained support. One service user shared:
"This service could not be better for me – my worker is brilliant, very understanding and supportive. I am thriving and I would not be where I am today without the support from Horizons."
Growing need for recovery services
Local authorities fund and arrange support and treatment for people struggling with a range of addictions, including alcohol, drugs, and smoking. Locally, this is North Yorkshire Council. Councils partner with the NHS and/or specialist addiction charities to offer people looking for help with drug and alcohol addiction different treatments and strategies. These commonly include talking therapy, detoxification, self-help, and referrals to community support groups.
The growing demand for addiction treatment is not unique to North Yorkshire:
- Between April 2023 and March 2024, over 300,000 adults in the UK accessed drug and alcohol treatment services—a 7% increase on the previous year and the biggest rise since 2009. More than half of these people were new to treatment, a 15% increase year-on-year.
However, national estimates suggest the need is even greater:
- Over 350,000 adults in England are classed as ‘possibly dependent’ on alcohol
- Around 600,000 adults in England and Wales are frequent drug users
While it’s encouraging that more people are coming forward, less than half complete their treatment and are free from dependence. This highlights the need to improve how care is delivered—and to ensure that services support people not just to start recovery, but to sustain it.
Moving forward
North Yorkshire Horizons continues to show how person-centred, integrated care can help more people move towards recovery. But to meet growing demand and improve outcomes nationally, we need to ensure that services across the country:
- Treat people as individuals, not just service users
- Work in partnership, reducing the burden of navigating disjointed systems
- Offer compassionate, informed support, grounded in understanding, not judgement
- Embed lived experience into service design, so real-world needs shape real-world responses
By putting people—not just their addictions—at the centre of care, we can help more individuals not just survive, but thrive.
What works in recovery — Key learnings from North Yorkshire
People across North Yorkshire have shared what helped most during their recovery journeys. These first-hand experiences reflect the importance of personalised, joined-up care and highlight the impact of specific elements that support long-term recovery:
A personalised approach:
“My confidence is building and I am learning to live again.”
A tailored approach helped people feel like their unique circumstances were understood and respected—not just their addiction.
Holistic, joined-up support:
“It wasn’t just about my addiction—they helped with my anxiety, housing, even getting back into work. Everything felt connected, and that made a huge difference.”
Service users frequently benefit from having multiple needs addressed at once—whether it’s mental health, housing, or employment—through coordinated care.
The attitude of support workers:
“This service could not be better for me – my worker is brilliant, very understanding and supportive. I am thriving.”
A consistent theme in feedback is that non-judgemental, compassionate staff can make or break someone’s experience.
Peer support
“Hearing from someone who’s lived through it gave me hope. It wasn’t just advice—it was proof that recovery is possible.”
North Yorkshire Horizons’ Recovery and Mentoring service connects people with peers who’ve been through similar experiences, helping reduce isolation and build confidence in recovery.
Smoking cessation support:
Smoking cessation is a key part of recovery for many. Horizons offers tailored support to help people quit, improving physical health and self-esteem as part of a broader recovery strategy.
Interestingly, smoking cesssation was one addiction service area that invariably received positive feedback.
“I didn’t realise how much smoking was holding me back until I stopped. Quitting gave me the energy and belief I needed to keep going.”
Smoking cessation services are universally available, with a range of convenient venues available, such as GP surgery, pharmacy, high-street shop, mobile bus clinic. Local authorities, such as North Yorkshire Council, arrange a variety of stop-smoking services, such as one-to-one appointments, group sessions, and drop-in services. There is also the option of online or phone appointments for people who cannot attend in-person appointments. Smoking cessation services also freely provide a variety of stop-smoking treatments, for instance nicotine replacement and medications.
In short, smoking cessation services are a good example of a person-centred approach to treating addiction. People can access the service without restriction and choose the elements that best suit their needs. The experiences of the people we heard from show that this approach is better for people not only in terms of people's experiences but also in terms of success rates.
These insights show that recovery isn’t only about access to treatment—it’s about the quality of support, the dignity of choice, and the presence of empathy at every step.
Our recommendations
National level
- The government should continue to provide additional funding for the provision of drug and alcohol treatment services as part of the ongoing 10-year "From Harm to Hope" plan. This would help protect drug and alcohol addiction services from the financial pressures on local authorities.
- The government should provide longer cycles of guaranteed funding streams for the provision of drug and alcohol treatment services. This would help local authorities dedicate more resources to plan staff recruitment.
- The government should ring-fence funding specifically for addiction service worker training. This would allow drug and alcohol addiction services to upskill workers on links between addiction and other factors, eg. childhood trauma, neurodivergence, sexuality and identity, and mental health, as well as the principles of person-centred care.
Local level
- North Yorkshire Council should consider partners' person-centred practices (e.g., choice of venues, choice of appointment types, range of treatment strategies) when commissioning potential drug and alcohol addiction services. This would help ensure that drug and alcohol addiction services are equipped to provide effective, person-centred treatment.
- North Yorkshire Council should set up multi-agency Combating Drugs Partnerships to lead joint local needs assessments, agree on a local drugs strategy delivery plan, and regularly review delivery of the local drugs strategy. This would help streamline drug and alcohol treatment pathways and promote system-wide ownership.
- Mental health services should ensure people presenting with dual diagnosis are not excluded from care, signposting to more appropriate services where necessary. This would help people who are struggling with addiction get the help that they need.
- Drug and alcohol addiction services should offer people passports that include information relevant to their addiction (e.g., mental health conditions, neurodivergence, current treatment strategy) to relay when accessing other services. Passports could help minimise the need for people struggling with addiction to repeatedly retell their stories when moving through the system.
Healthwatch continue to hear from people who say their recovery depends not just on treatment, but on feeling listened to, respected, and supported as a whole person. It’s clear that person-centred care isn’t a ‘nice to have’—it’s essential.
