News Addiction services not equipped to treat the 8 million people drinking at high risk during pandemic, warns RCPysch Addiction services in England are not equipped to treat the soaring numbers of people drinking at high risk during the pandemic and must receive a multi-million-pound funding boost in the upcoming spending review, says the Royal College of Psychiatrists. The College’s new analysis of Public Health England’s latest data on the indirect effects of COVID-19 found that over 8.4 million people are now drinking at higher risk, up from just 4.8 million in February. But the deep cuts made to addiction services since 2013/14 mean the estimated 8.4 million higher risk drinkers, and the hundreds of additional people with an opiate addiction needing help, could miss out on life-saving treatment. Professor Julia Sinclair, chair of the College’s Addictions Faculty, said: ‘COVID-19 has shown just how stretched, under-resourced and ill-equipped addiction services are to treat the growing numbers of vulnerable people living with this complex illness.’