Prisons have in place a comprehensive drug treatment framework, many elements of which are designed to reduce the risk of drug-related deaths on release from prison:
Counselling, Assessment, Referral, Advice and Throughcare (CARAT) teams provide harm minimisation to prisoners prior to release;
working with offender managers and the Drug Interventions Programme, CARAT teams facilitate throughcare arrangements to ensure drug treatment is continued on release; and
the integrated drug treatment system, the clinical elements of which will be introduced into all prisons by 2011, will improve considerable the quality of treatment.
The CARAT service is subject to regular audit for effectiveness. A major research strategy is planned on the effectiveness of the integrated drug treatment system. The National Offender Management Service (NOMS) has also conducted research studies into drug-related death.
There is no single case tracking system that follows individuals across community-criminal justice system treatment boundaries nor linked to the National Programme on Substance Abuse Deaths (npSAD). There are also significant delays inherent in the process for recording causes of death. Instead, NOMS relies on research studies to produce trend data.
NOMS together with the National Treatment Agency is exploring the feasibility of introducing into prisons the National Drug Treatment Monitoring System. This offers the potential of obtaining a better picture of treatment outcomes but would not capture ex-offenders who died while not engaged in treatment.