Council funds detox unit despite rising costs

The Level provides 24-hour treatment and care to adults

A drug detox service in Nottingham will continue to operate for another two years after the city council agreed to fund it again despite costs increasing.

The Level, based in Millers Court, in Radford, provides 24-hour treatment and care to adults, helping them to stop using alcohol, drugs and other substances.

Nottingham City Council contracted Framework, a homelessness support charity, to run the service at a cost of £285,525 a year using its public health grant, the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) said.

The contract ran out this year and the authority says costs have now increased due to staff pay rises and inflationary pressures, but it has agreed to maintain the service at a higher cost of £336,050 a year.

'Value for money'

The service offers medically assisted detoxification or stabilisation programmes tailored for individual needs.

It delivers medical assessments, assisted withdrawal, emergency care for people in crisis, referral for residential rehabilitation, vaccinations and referral for blood-borne viruses, as well as overdose prevention training, the LDRS said.

The council said it would continue to fund the same level of support at a cost of £286 a day for one bed, up from £243 a day.

The authority's delegated decision documents state: "This price still represents good value for money compared to the rates paid by other local authorities, and other facilities offering similar services elsewhere in the country, [where] prices range from £308 to upwards of £1,000 for one bed day."

The council added it considered reducing the number of beds to keep the annual cost the same, however it feared the move would "result in prolonged waiting times and poorer outcomes for service users".

The service is due to run until June 2026 at a total cost of £672,100.

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