In December 2014 the Health Research Board published the first two issues in its drug and alcohol evidence review series.  The reviews are on the topics of prevention¹ and recovery capital.² The series is part of the process of knowledge transfer and exchange between the HRB and those engaged in developing and implementing responses to problem drug and alcohol use in Ireland.  The reviews are intended to support drug and alcohol taskforces, service providers and policy makers in using research-based knowledge in their decision-making, particularly in regard to assigned actions in the National Drugs Strategy. 

Arising from the recommendations outlined in the report of the Working Group on Drugs Rehabilitation,¹ a National Drugs Rehabilitation Framework (NDRF) was developed.² Its purpose is to improve the provision of rehabilitation services to current and former drug users by creating integrated care pathways (ICPs) with the co-operation of different service providers.  The NDRF was piloted in a number of locations and the evaluation of the pilot was recently published.³ Ten sites were selected for the pilot, but the evaluators report that only six implemented the framework.

To help ensure drug treatment and rehabilitation outcomes are achieved and to maintain a high standard of client safety, Action 45 in the National Drugs Strategy 2009–2016 calls for the introduction of ‘a clinical and organisational governance framework for all treatment and rehabilitation services in Ireland’.