The Local Government Association (LGA) has issued a call for ‘urgent action’ to tackle patient brokering in the treatment sector. Patient brokering is the practice of providing financial incentives for referring people to specific private treatment facilities, regardless of whether it’s in their best interests.
The practice risks undermining public confidence in treatment services and ‘exploiting vulnerable people’, LGA warns, alongside inflated costs, compromised care outcomes and ‘long-term harm for those seeking recovery’. ‘Many organisations provide high-quality addiction support but a rise in unregulated private providers has created opportunities for unethical practices to flourish,’ the association states.
According to the most recent NDTMS statistics, which were published by OHID yesterday, the number of adults in contact with treatment services increased by six per cent in the year to March 2025 to almost 330,000 – the highest number since records began. This suggests ‘there are more vulnerable people at risk of being exploited by unethical patient brokering practices’, says LGA.
The association is calling for the creation of a ‘single registered online gateway’ for people seeking treatment as well as legislation to ban patient brokering, with penalties for those who ‘engage in or facilitate’ it. The government should also support local authorities to raise awareness and ‘promote community, NHS and charity-led services, which operate under strict ethical guidelines’ and ensure efficient use of public funds, it states.
Patient brokering is a ‘deeply concerning and unethical practice that puts profit before patient wellbeing’, said the chair of the LGA’s health and wellbeing committee, Wendy Taylor. ‘Vulnerable individuals seeking help for addiction deserve safe, ethical, and clinically appropriate care, and not to be treated as commodities at one of the most vulnerable points in their addiction recovery. We must protect the integrity of our addiction treatment system and ensure that adequate safeguards are in place so that every person seeking help is met with dignity, compassion, and respect.’
‘Our member organisations work hard with local authorities across the country to ensure that treatment for substance use issues – including access to residential placements where appropriate – is available across England,’ added Collective Voice executive director Will Haydock. ‘We do not work with brokers – and there is no need for people facing issues with substance use or their families to do so either. These organisations add no value to the system, but sow confusion by targeting people at their most vulnerable moments, directing them away from the support that is freely available in their local community, funded by their council.’
Yesterday’s treatment figures showed ‘real progress’ and demonstrated that charities could ‘deliver a swift, effective return on investment’ for the funding that followed Dame Carol Black’s Independent review of drugs, he continued. However, the freezing of funding at year-three levels following last year’s election would inevitably lead to cuts in services, he warned, given the ‘additional pressures’ on charities. ‘There have been inflationary pressures on running costs, increases in employer National Insurance contributions, unfunded increases to community pharmacy charges, cost of living increases in wages, and changes to VAT policy. This is an urgent call for the current government to make the right choice and tackle the problems related to alcohol and other drugs head on by re-starting the programme of investment recommended in the independent review.’