News Archive
Addictions Research Network Event on Friday 30th September 2011
The next Addictions Research Network event will take place on Friday 30th September 2011 at NDEC, with guest speakers Dr Jack Leach and Dr Rowdy Yates. To register for this event please contact Julie Chadwick by email at julie.b.chadwick@manchester.ac.uk. Further details.
Launch of NEW Public Facing Drug Information Website
15th July 2011
The new ndtms.net is now live: the Beta version of the new ndtms.net has been successfully tested over June and now replaces the old website. New functionality includes favourite report through MyNDTMS, Quick Notes, improved printing and ViewIt, and an NDTMS Forum where you can discuss issues with other users.
NDEC has moved
NDEC moved to the Ellen Wilkinson building on 11th July 2011. Our new address is:
Mike Donmall advises Bosnian Government on TDI data collection
21st June 2011
Dr Mike Donmall met with representatives of the Bosnian government last week to review their drug treatment monitoring data and give some preliminary analysis of the data that can be used in national publications. He also made suggestions for improvement and plans for development of TDI data collection.
Addiction Research Network meeting
The 1st Executive Group Meeting of the new Addiction Research Network (Institute of Health Sciences) will take place on Wednesday 9th March 2pm at NDEC.
UK Focal POint Publishes Major European Report on Drug Use
2nd November 2010
The UK Focal Point has published a major European report on drug use: new developments, trends and in-depth information on selected issues. Chapter 5 on Drug Related Treatment: treatment demand and treatment availability - Davies and Donmall - has major input from NDEC.
National Drug Treatment Monitoring System (NDTMS) Statistical Report published today.
7th October 2010
This report summarises treatment of drug misusers within England. Published by the NTA, the NDEC team is responsible for data analysis in this key national report. http://www.nta.nhs.uk/statistics.aspx
Dr Mike Donmall representing UK at the Annual Treatment Demand Indicator (TDI) meeting
15th September 2010
Dr Mike Donmall will be representing the UK at the Annual Treatment Demand Indicator (TDI) meeting in Lisbon on 21/22 September. TDI is one of the 5 European Key Epidemiological Indicators. He will be presenting results of the Europe-wide review of TDI to representatives of all the EU Member States.
Understanding drug misuse: context, extent and responses
15th September 2010
NDEC has developed an 'Understanding drug misuse: context, extent and responses' unit, delivered as part of the Masters of Public Health distance learning programme at the University of Manchester. The unit can be taken as part of the MPH/Mres programme or as a stand alone 15 credit postgraduate unit and will be available from February 2011. For further information contact: Samantha Weston, tel: 0161 275 1658
NDEC Launch Drug Data Web Tool: ViewIt™
28th May 2010
NDEC awarded Home Office Framework Agreement
27th May 2010After a formal bidding process, Dr Mike Donmall and the NDEC team have been awarded a key contract under the Methods and Topics Framework Agreement. Further details to be announced.
Medical Research Council Funding
24th May 2010A group led by Dr Tim Millar, including colleagues from the Universities of Bristol (Ades, Hickman, Welton), Cambridge (Bird, De Angelis), London (Marsden), Manchester (Buchan, Davies, Donmall, Dunn, Seddon), St Andrews (King), Strathclyde (Hutchinson), and York (Godfrey), has been awarded funding by the Medical Research Council to investigate mortality and crime effects related to problem and injecting drug use. This is one of four groups funded within the latest call within the Addiction and Substance Misuse Strategy.
Crucial Study Delivers Mixed Scorecard for English Drug Treatment Services
2nd February 2010"For drug treatment in England, studies do not get any more important than this - the first national reassessment for over 10 years. A year after starting treatment drug use, crime and health risk behaviour were all down, but quality of life gains were minor compared to treatment costs, and the study showed how far patients and services were from achieving national reintegration objectives."
For full FINDINGS article click here
British Academy Public Event
12th January 2010Tim Millar will be speaking at the British Academy public event 'Addiction research: The Next Steps' on 21st January. Please see here for further information.
Treatment is effective (and cost effective) in reducing the harmful behaviours associated with problem drug use
14th December 2009DTORS Published: Lastest research led by NDEC shows that most treatment seekers reported significant and substantial reductions in drug use and offending and improvements in social functioning, mental and physical well-being over the short to medium term. Personal motivation is seen as crucial for successful treatment and case studies suggested that flexibility of treatment approaches for different client needs are essential. The criminal justice system is an equally valid route into drug treatment, which is described as cost effective in 80% of cases. Funded by the Home Office. http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/horrpubs.html
Michael Donmall comments in Guardian
3rd November 2009Michael Donmall comments on the recent sacking of Prof David Nutt as CHair of the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs. Guardian 3rd November 2009.
Paper available via 'Online First'
23rd October 2009The following paper is now available via 'Online First', the journal website:
Hay, G., Gannon, M., Macdougall, J., Eastwood, C., Williams, K., and Millar, T. (2009) 'Opiate and crack cocaine use: A new understanding of prevalence'. Drugs: education, prevention and policy, 99999:1
NTA Annual Statistical Release
8th October 2009The National Treatment Agency has published its Annual Statistical Release for which NDEC conducted all analyses. These reports summarise the state of play in relation to treatment attendance by drug misusers within England. Media attention following this year's report has focussed on the downturn in new reports of opiate and crack use by young adults.
European-wide survey
21st September 2009Findings of European-wide survey presented by Dr Michael Donmall at European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction (EMCDDA), Lisbon.
Welcome Promotion at NDEC
17th August 2009We are pleased to announce that Dr Tim Millar has been promoted to Senior Research Fellow.
Publication in Statistical Methods in Medical Research
1st August 2009'Capture-recapture and anchored prevalence estimation of injecting drug users in England: national and regional estimates' by Gordon Hay, Maria Gannon, Jane MacDougall, Catherine Eastwood, Kate Williams and Tim Millar was publised in Statistical Methods in Medical Research at the beginning of August.
MRC Cluster Bid Success
13th July 2009Manchester (NDEC, Tim Millar) has attracted Medical Research Council funding to co-ordinate an Addiction Research Cluster with Universities of Manchester, Cambridge, York, Glasgow and Bristol.
ViewIt welcomed at NDTMS Staff Conference
29th June 2009There has been enormous enthusiasm for ViewIt - the on-line visualisation tool - developed by staff at NDEC. Following two important demonstrations of the prototype at recent national meetings, there will be a major development push to make a live version available by the autumn.
TDI Review 2009
15th June 2009Michael Donmall launches pan-European on-line survey for the review of TDI. The TDI (Treatment Demand Indicator) is one of 5 Key Epidemiological Indicators for the European Monitoring Centre on Drugs and Drug Addiction (EMCDDA) in Lisbon. Mike has been commissioned by the EMCDDA to carry out a fundamental review of this important epidemiological indicator. The project will report back in September 2009.
Focal Point Publish UK drug situation 2008
1st June 2009The Focal Point have published the UK drug situation for 2008 with chapter contributions from Michael Donmall, Andrew Jones and Karl Molden.
Michael Donmall appointed trustee of Emmaus Mossley
11th May 2009For further information on Emmaus Mosley please visit the Emmaus Mossley website.
ViewIt Stakeholder events
24th April 2009NDEC as started a series of consultative stakeholder events as they develop this web-based data visualisation tool.
NDEC starts research into prison drug treatment
6th April 2009NDEC have recently started the feasibility phase of a new project aimed at assessing the effectiveness of specific prison based drug treatment interventions. This is an important opportunity to consider the role of psychosocial interventions in the increasingly medical and heavily funded response to the incarceration of known problem drug users.
NDEC launches seminar series (PDF 223KB)
2nd March 2009NDEC will launch the first of its seminar series with a talk given by Dr David Best on Substance Misuse Recovery Research on 11th March at 2pm.
Dr Tim Millar interviewed by Granada Television
23rd February 2009Dr Tim Millar recently appeared on Granada Television to respond to questions on the therapeutic use of cannabis.
NDEC and the University of Birmingham Launch TDI review
9th December 2008A two year review of the treatment demand indicator for
NDEC Director provides Consulting Case Study
3rd December 2008Mike Donmall, NDEC Director and UK expert on Treatment Demand Indicators, recently developed a Global Toolkit for measuring drug treatment demand, working for the UN on a cosultancy basis. He talked to UMIP (University of Manchester Intellectual Property) about the experience for their Consulting Resource case study booklet, which provides insights into University-based consulting work. The booklet is available online; Mike's contribution can be found on pages 40 - 43.
Manchester University's Consulting Resources website - no longer available online
Case studies on consulting (booklet: Adobe pdf format) - no longer available online
NDEC follows up prevalence estimates with methodological papers
3rd December 2008Following on from the publication of prevalence estimates for problematic drug use, a joint research team from NDEC and the University of Glasgow have published a further paper in Statistical Methods in Medical Research, and Dr Tim Millar, Deputy Director of NDEC, has contributed to a paper on Capture-recapture terminology. Both papers are available online.
Capture–recapture and anchored prevalence estimation of injecting drug users in England: national and regional estimates (Journal Article: Adobe pdf format)
"Glossary of terms relating to capture-recapture methods"; T Millar, A Domingo-Salvany, C Eastwood and G Hay: The Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health (Journal Article: Adobe pdf format)
Home Office publish NDEC drug prevalence figures
24th November 2008The final figures from a three year research project into the prevalence of problematic drug use (i.e. use of opiates and crack cocaine) have now been published by the Home Office. The research, carried out jointly by NDEC and the University of Glasgow, used Capture-Recapture and Multiple Indicator methodologies to estimate the use of problematic drugs at national, regional and local levels. The results indicate that the rate of problematic drug use in the population remained stable over the three years of the study (2004 - 2007). Further information is available in the following publications:
National and regional estimates of problematic drug use. (Summary Research Report: Adobe pdf format)
New Drug Action Team prevalence estimates 2006/7. (NTA website)
NDEC research shows reduction in crime rates for treated addicts
17th November 2008The result of research carried out by NDEC on behalf of the NTA has been released nationally today; the Guardian has reported the news on their website, and Manchester University has issued a Press Release covering the news.
(from guardian.co.uk > News > Society > Drugs and Alcohol):
Research published today shows that heroin and crack cocaine addicts receiving drug treatment commit fewer crimes to feed their habit.
The Manchester University study, based on data from the police national computer, shows that the number of offences committed by addicts - such as theft - fell by almost half once they had entered drug treatment programmes.
Full text of the media release and a pdf of the research paper are available from the NTA:
New evidence: drug treatment cuts crime (national media release)
Changes in offending following prescribing treatment for drug misuse (research paper: Adobe PDF format)