The Addiction Clinical Care Suite (ACCS): service outline and 2 year outcome data

The ACCS is an 11 bedded unit based within an internal medicine ward of Guy’s and St. Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust in south London (UK). Operating within an acute medical hospital allows the ACCS to better fulfil its mandate of providing inpatient addictions care for patients with tri-morbidity including high levels of social, medical, and psychiatric need. Patients are referred to the unit from drug and alcohol teams across the 32 boroughs of London for inpatient management lasting up to three weeks where stabilisation or medically assisted withdrawal can take place for a range of substances. Admissions focus on addressing substance use while also ensuring that comorbid physical (across a board spectrum from cardiac, to respiratory, hepatic, renal, neurological, obstetric to oncological) and psychiatric conditions are cared for in equal measure. Since the start of the service, over  the first 24 month, 85% of patients have successfully completed treatment.