UK clinical guidelines for alcohol treatment
- From:
- Office for Health Improvement and Disparities
- Published
- 16 October 2023
- Last updated
- 28 November 2025 — See all updates
Summary
This consultation has concluded
Detail of outcome
The guidelines are now published as a manual. You can find them at Clinical guidelines for alcohol treatment.
We received 776 responses to the consultation, which came from across the UK. Of the respondents who said how they were responding:
- 19% were an individual sharing their personal views and experiences
- 34% were an individual sharing their professional views
- 48% were responding on behalf of an organisation or professional body
The vast majority of respondents were from the public sector (65%) and the charity or not for profit sector (26%). The remaining respondents were from:
- the private sector
- royal colleges
- trade associations
The responses were predominantly positive. Nearly three-quarters (72%) of respondents who answered the question about whether the draft guidelines covered all the main topics in alcohol treatment said that they did. We did not need to make any changes to the substantive recommendations in the guidelines.
There were a wide range of detailed responses with suggestions about how to improve the content of the guidelines. These included suggestions about adding, amending or clarifying details in a number of chapters. We have carefully considered the responses and we incorporated many of the suggestions into the published version of the guidelines.
We also added sections on tailoring alcohol treatment for armed forces personnel and veterans (in chapter 27) and for autistic people and people with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (in chapter 25).
Original consultation
Summary
This is a consultation seeking your views on the draft of the first ever UK clinical guidelines for alcohol treatment.
This consultation closesran atfrom
to
Consultation description
This consultation asks you to review individual chapters from the draft UK clinical guidelines for alcohol treatment.
Each chapter of the guidelines covers a different area, topic or setting that is important to supporting and treating people with alcohol problems. Each chapter summarises the main points on the topic, outlines good practice and guidance, and tells you how you can implement the guidance in your service.
The draft UK clinical guidelines for alcohol treatment is made up of 27 chapters split between 2 documents. Chapters 1 to 12 cover the core elements of alcohol treatment, and chapters 13 to 27 cover alcohol treatment in specific settings and populations. You can find a list of all 27 chapters in the consultation document.
The online survey asks you to comment on each individual draft chapter separately, focusing on whether you agree that each chapter:
- does not have important information missing
- has guidance that is clear
- has guidance that is possible to implement
This page also includes annexes to the draft UK clinical guidelines for alcohol treatment and a glossary.
We encourage organisational responses. This will help us to understand the consensus views of organisations and process the information more easily. However, people can also respond as individuals if they want to.
Documents
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Updates to this page
Published 16 October 2023
Last updated 28 November 2025
href="#full-history">+ show all updates
-
Added information about the consultation outcome, including details of the feedback received.
-
First published.
Sign up for emails or print this page
Detail of outcome
The guidelines are now published as a manual. You can find them at Clinical guidelines for alcohol treatment.
We received 776 responses to the consultation, which came from across the UK. Of the respondents who said how they were responding:
- 19% were an individual sharing their personal views and experiences
- 34% were an individual sharing their professional views
- 48% were responding on behalf of an organisation or professional body
The vast majority of respondents were from the public sector (65%) and the charity or not for profit sector (26%). The remaining respondents were from:
- the private sector
- royal colleges
- trade associations
The responses were predominantly positive. Nearly three-quarters (72%) of respondents who answered the question about whether the draft guidelines covered all the main topics in alcohol treatment said that they did. We did not need to make any changes to the substantive recommendations in the guidelines.
There were a wide range of detailed responses with suggestions about how to improve the content of the guidelines. These included suggestions about adding, amending or clarifying details in a number of chapters. We have carefully considered the responses and we incorporated many of the suggestions into the published version of the guidelines.
We also added sections on tailoring alcohol treatment for armed forces personnel and veterans (in chapter 27) and for autistic people and people with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (in chapter 25).
Original consultation
Summary
This is a consultation seeking your views on the draft of the first ever UK clinical guidelines for alcohol treatment.
This consultation closesran atfrom
to
Consultation description
This consultation asks you to review individual chapters from the draft UK clinical guidelines for alcohol treatment.
Each chapter of the guidelines covers a different area, topic or setting that is important to supporting and treating people with alcohol problems. Each chapter summarises the main points on the topic, outlines good practice and guidance, and tells you how you can implement the guidance in your service.
The draft UK clinical guidelines for alcohol treatment is made up of 27 chapters split between 2 documents. Chapters 1 to 12 cover the core elements of alcohol treatment, and chapters 13 to 27 cover alcohol treatment in specific settings and populations. You can find a list of all 27 chapters in the consultation document.
The online survey asks you to comment on each individual draft chapter separately, focusing on whether you agree that each chapter:
- does not have important information missing
- has guidance that is clear
- has guidance that is possible to implement
This page also includes annexes to the draft UK clinical guidelines for alcohol treatment and a glossary.
We encourage organisational responses. This will help us to understand the consensus views of organisations and process the information more easily. However, people can also respond as individuals if they want to.
Documents
Share this page
SharingThe willfollowing links open the page in a new tab
Updates to this page
Published 16 October 2023
Last updated 28 November 2025
href="#full-history">+ show all updates
-
Added information about the consultation outcome, including details of the feedback received.
-
First published.
Sign up for emails or print this page
Consultation description
This consultation asks you to review individual chapters from the draft UK clinical guidelines for alcohol treatment.
Each chapter of the guidelines covers a different area, topic or setting that is important to supporting and treating people with alcohol problems. Each chapter summarises the main points on the topic, outlines good practice and guidance, and tells you how you can implement the guidance in your service.
The draft UK clinical guidelines for alcohol treatment is made up of 27 chapters split between 2 documents. Chapters 1 to 12 cover the core elements of alcohol treatment, and chapters 13 to 27 cover alcohol treatment in specific settings and populations. You can find a list of all 27 chapters in the consultation document.
The online survey asks you to comment on each individual draft chapter separately, focusing on whether you agree that each chapter:
- does not have important information missing
- has guidance that is clear
- has guidance that is possible to implement
This page also includes annexes to the draft UK clinical guidelines for alcohol treatment and a glossary.
We encourage organisational responses. This will help us to understand the consensus views of organisations and process the information more easily. However, people can also respond as individuals if they want to.
Documents
Share this page
SharingThe willfollowing links open the page in a new tab
Updates to this page
Published 16 October 2023
Last updated 28 November 2025
href="#full-history">+ show all updates
-
Added information about the consultation outcome, including details of the feedback received.
-
First published.
Sign up for emails or print this page
Share this page
SharingThe willfollowing links open the page in a new tab
Updates to this page
-
Added information about the consultation outcome, including details of the feedback received.
-
First published.