‘Grave Cause for Concern’? Private Practice, Professional Disputes and the Treatment of Heroin Addiction in Britain During the 1980s
Mold, Alex;
(2007)
‘Grave Cause for Concern’? Private Practice, Professional Disputes and the Treatment of Heroin Addiction in Britain During the 1980s.
Contemporary British history, 22 (1).
pp. 67-88.
ISSN 1361-9462
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/13619460601065800
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This article examines the debate surrounding the role played by private doctors in the treatment of heroin addiction in Britain during the 1980s. Whilst there were a number of problems connected with the treatment of addiction in private practice, this debate was something of a surface issue masking a deeper professional dispute. The involvement of general practitioners, whether in private or National Health Service practice, posed a threat to the recently established specialist status of psychiatrists working in the field. This came at a time when the specialist psychiatric approach to drug addition was increasingly being challenged by other non-medical agencies.
