Formed in December 2010, the Concordat consists of 38 residential rehabilitation centres from all over the United Kingdom. This is designed to fully represent the rehabilitation industry in the UK. The graduates of these clinics formed a meeting in July 2011 to discuss how residential rehabilitation should be promoted better to achieve higher levels of funding.

There are several barriers to achieving higher levels of funding which make it difficult for residential rehabilitation clinics to receive the levels that are required to treat their patients. These include:

• Available funds – There is only a finite amount of money that is available and all forms of treatment have to be taken into account.
• Upfront cost – Whilst residential rehabilitation is only of the best value for money forms of treatment, due to the higher success rate, it is also one of the most expensive. The challenge is to convince people of the value that this form of treatment brings to the patient.
• Image – Residential is often seen as an option that is only available to those that are wealthy and some see it as more of a holiday than form of treatment. However, it is important that people see that it works and that this service should be available to all those who require it.
• Stigma – Whilst addiction should be seen as an illness, not everyone is sympathetic to the needs of an addict. Many are unwilling to see their taxes being spent on helping them.