MUCH-NEEDED investment in alcohol treatment has been put on hold because of financial pressures.

Today's meeting of the Durham and Chester-le-Street NHS Primary Care Trust (PCT) is expected to be told that investment in alcohol services in the area has been deferred.

The move, brought about by the NHS's current financial problems, was criticised by Alcohol Concern, a national charity which helps people with alcohol problems.

A month ago, figures released by Alcohol Concern showed that the North-East has the worst record in England in terms of treatment facilities for patients misusing alcohol.

The figures showed that only one in 102 people are receiving treatment across the region, as opposed to one in 18 nationwide.

People contacting the North-East regional alcohol forum have been told they face waits of up to 12 months, just for an initial assessment.

Helen Symons, spokeswoman for Alcohol Concern, said: "The North-East has by far the worst record in the country in terms of treatment available.

"You would expect the investment to be in proportion to need - and there is a great demand for services in the region."

While there had been a huge increase in the amount of money invested in treatment for drug misuse, the same investment had not taken place as far as alcohol misuse was concern, she said.

Mick Davies, general manager of the private Huntercombe Centre, in Sunderland - the North-East's only specialist drug and alcohol detoxification unit - expressed frustration that so little was spent on alcohol services in the region.

He said: "It is understandable that the PCT is cutting back on alcohol treatment in the current financial climate, but it is very short-sighted. It has been shown that for every £1 invested in treating people with alcohol problems, the public purse saves £5."

Dr Trisha Cresswell, director of pubic health for Durham and Chester-le-Street PCT, said a considerable amount of money had already been invested in alcohol treatment services but, because of financial pressures, additional investment had been put on hold.

Dr Cresswell said she believed that other PCTs in the region were in a similar predicament.

"We had planned to put in additional alcohol treatment services from April 1 in order to increase capacity," she added.