Recommendation 76

Witnesses told us about “the importance of dual diagnosis”. 130 Niki Scordi, the then CEO of Advance, spelled out the problem: “mental health professionals will use the fact that you have a drug or alcohol addiction as a barrier to prevent you from accessing services and support, but you are abusing substances because you are trying to cope, so your mental health needs to be supported.” She explained that, as a result, some people “fall between the cracks and both services will deny support”. 131 Professor Brooker (Royal Holloway, University of London) and Dr Sirdifield (University of Lincoln) agreed that “it is very difficult for the general population to access ‘dual diagnosis’ services let alone those with the added complication of personality disorder.” 132