Drug and Alcohol Addiction


We have a 34 bedroom purpose-designed centre in Sunderland providing highly effective evidence-based interventions in the treatment of drug and alcohol misuse. Our centre is able to cater for adults with complex needs including poly-drug use, pregnant drug users, alcohol-related brain disease and mental health co-morbidity.

We have used the same method to manage alcohol detoxification in our centre for the last 12 years and this method is now increasingly being acknowledged in the field as the “gold standard” for treatment.

Our detoxification service is led by a Medical Director who is supported by a team of 24 hour nursing and support staff. Trained therapists and keyworkers run our therapeutic rehabilitation programme. Our team works seamlessly with clients, providers and acute trusts, Primary Care Trusts, GP’s and local Drug and Alcohol Action Teams and other support agencies.

We also accept clients who wish to self-fund their treatment.

We offer two different programme options within our specialist centre: detoxification and/or rehabilitation.

The detoxification/stabilisation programme is typically a one-week programme for alcohol but is usually longer for drugs and will depend on individual need. The evidence based clinical interventions for this include:

  • Alcohol detoxification : follows NICE Guidelines in assessing withdrawal symptoms at regular intervals and ensures the client receives the correct amount of medication to avoid discomfort.
  • Rapid opiate titration
  • Opiate conversion/stabilisation : Methadone or Subutex
  • Opiate reduction ( partial or complete)
  • Benzodiazepine reduction
  • Stimulant symptomatic relief
  • Initiation of relapse prevention treatments (Acamprosate, Naltrexone, Disulfiram )

All clients have a full medical assessment on admission and have their treatment based on an agreed care plan. Care plans are reviewed daily and any changes necessary are agreed between the client, referrer and Medical Director. Centre staff will also liaise with the referring agencies to ensure appropriate ongoing medical prescribing is followed.

We can offer flexible length of stays varying from as little as four weeks to as long as six months to suit each individual’s needs. Most commonly, we provide a 12-week rolling rehabilitation programme. Our rehabilitation programme includes:

  • Therapy sessions (both in groups and one to one), which cover factual information about drinking and drug use, attitudes to substances and focusing on the personal skills needed to motivate change in current behaviour.
  • At least two sessions per week with a named key worker.

For further information about our addiction service, please click on the following centre link:

Each year we issue separate surveys to both our patients/ clients and to our referrers asking them what they think of the service we provide. All information is fed back to our clients about what we do well, what we could do better and how we aim to improve the service we provide. All our surveys are anonymous.

Client comments 2010:

  • “To all the staff - I couldn’t have done this without your great help and support” (Huntercombe Centre, Sunderland)
  • “Thank you so much for looking after me. I hope to be coming back one day - in a different capacity - because you have treated me so nicely. Thank you very very much. I will miss you all.” (Huntercombe Centre, Sunderland)

Throughout the year we run events, conferences and seminars where we discuss the treatment of people with mental health issues or addictions. These events provide insight into the conditions, how care is provided, information on new treatments, support for friends and relatives and case studies, amongst other topics. Some events are accredited for professional learning.

The following lists all our upcoming events or conferences where we will discuss mental health issues or addictions:

  • No upcoming events

The following list is all events we have previously held where mental health issues or addictions were covered. The pages for these events contain an overview of the event, programme, as well as downloads of any presentations and documentation.

  • No past events

The following lists various organisations and charities which offer advice, guidance and support to people struggling with addiction. Click a link to view more details for that organisation, as well as contact information.