Percentage of People Who Wait Less Than Three Weeks From Referral Received to Appropriate Drug or Alcohol Treatment That Supports Their Recovery

Identifying Attributes

Care Settings
Care Transitions
Country
Scotland
Publishing Organisation
Public Health Scotland: Quality Indicator Profile for Mental Health
Type of Quality Indicator
Process
IOM Quality Dimension
Timeliness
Domain
Access / Waiting Times

Defining Attributes

Definition

Percentage of people who wait less than three weeks from referral received to appropriate drug or alcohol treatment that supports their recovery

Numerator

Number of people who wait less than three weeks from referral received to appropriate drug or alcohol treatment that supports their recovery (Length of time from the date a referral was received to the date treatment started).

Denominator

Total number of waits

Exclusions
Use of Risk Adjustment
No
Risk Adjustments
Stratifications

Collection and Reporting Attributes

Type of Data Collection
Administrative data
Data Collection Methods

Derived from data already collected by NHS Boards and provided to Public Health Scotland. Extracted from the Drug and Alcohol Information System (DAISy) and its predecessor the Drug and Alcohol Treatment Waiting Times (DATWT) database

Frequency of Data Collection
Quarterly
Frequency of Data Collection in Days
91
Reporting Methods

Repored on Public Health Scotland website National drug and alcohol treatment waiting times. Also repored on Quality Indicator Profile for Mental Health biannually

Reporting Frequency
Quarterly
Reporting Frequency in Days
91
Indicator Has Recommended Targets
Yes

Source and Reference Attributes

Technical Specifications
Link to Measurement Tools
Quality Indicator Confirmed to be Part of a Program Used to Monitor Quality and Safety of Care Among Older People at a Population-Level between 2012-2022
Yes
Assessed by the Australian Consortium for Aged Care Collaborators as Generally Containing Good Properties (Importance and Scientific Acceptability)
No
Australian Consortium for Aged Care Endorsed
No
Identified by PHARMA-Care Project
No
Upload Date
02 December 2025