Drug and alcohol assessment in patients presenting to mental health services on the background of the effects of drugs used in chem-sex

Clinicians in UK mental health services are not consistently asking patients about their use of chem-sex drugs—such as crystal methamphetamine, GHB, and mephedrone—when they arrive in crisis. This matters because chem-sex drug use is rising among men who have sex with men, and these substances can trigger severe psychiatric symptoms including psychosis, paranoia, and suicidal ideation. Yet standard drug and alcohol assessments in mental health trusts often fail to capture them. The abstract notes that without this data, patients may not be referred to the specialist sexual health or addiction services they need. This project will generate the first systematic data on whether trusts are completing appropriate drug and alcohol assessments for this patient group, and whether those identified are being referred onward. If the research reveals gaps—as the abstract implies it expects to—the findings could drive changes to clinical assessment protocols, training for mental health staff, and referral pathways. The immediate impact is on clinical practice within NHS mental health trusts, not on patients’ daily lives directly. The work is a service evaluation: it asks what is happening now, so that services can be improved.