The publication of the new Capability Framework for the Drug and Alcohol Treatment and Recovery Workforce is a welcome step. It provides a shared understanding of the knowledge, skills and behaviours needed across the workforce, helping to support more consistent, high-quality care.
For commissioners, however, the value of the framework isn't simply in understanding what's in it. The more important question is: what does it mean for the way we commission, develop and support alcohol services?
Rather than summarise the framework, here are four questions we think every commissioner should be asking.
Most service specifications understandably focus on outputs: how many people enter treatment, how quickly they're seen, and how many complete treatment. Those measures matter, but the Capability Framework prompts us to think about something different.
Do the people delivering services have the knowledge, skills, and behaviours needed to achieve those outcomes?
Capability isn't simply about qualifications. It's about confidence, judgement, communication, trauma-informed practice, partnership working and a commitment to continuous learning. Those qualities can be harder to specify and measure, but they're fundamental to the quality of care people receive.
It's worth asking whether your current service specification makes those expectations explicit.
Training is often commissioned in response to an identified gap. A need emerges, a course is delivered and everyone moves on to the next priority.
The Capability Framework encourages a more strategic approach. Workforce development shouldn't sit alongside commissioning; it should be woven into it. Decisions about service redesign, quality improvement, workforce planning and contract monitoring all have implications for the knowledge and skills that staff need.
When workforce development is considered as part of the commissioning cycle rather than as a standalone activity, it becomes easier to build capability over time instead of responding to problems as they arise.
It's worth considering when workforce capability last featured in conversations about service quality and performance - not just training budgets.
People experiencing alcohol harm rarely interact with just one service. They may be seen in primary care, emergency departments, mental health services, housing, social care or the criminal justice system long before they reach specialist alcohol treatment - if they reach it at all.
The Capability Framework reflects this reality. Building workforce capability isn't only about strengthening specialist services; it's about ensuring that professionals across the wider system have the confidence to identify alcohol harm, respond appropriately, and connect people with the right support.
A whole-system approach doesn't just improve individual practice, it can strengthen pathways, partnerships, and opportunities for earlier intervention.
It's worth asking where the biggest opportunities are to build alcohol capability across your local system, rather than within individual services alone.
One of the easiest things to measure is how many people attended training. Unfortunately, it's also one of the least useful indicators of success.
The Capability Framework encourages us to think beyond attendance and towards impact. Has the training increased confidence? Has practice changed? Are people experiencing more consistent, evidence-based care? Are teams working together more effectively? Ultimately, are outcomes improving?
None of this means every training programme needs a complex evaluation framework. But it does mean being clear, from the outset, what success would look like and how you'll know whether you've achieved it.
It's worth asking what evidence would genuinely convince you that your investment in workforce development had made a difference.
Perhaps the biggest message from the Capability Framework is this:
Workforce development is no longer a support function. It is part of delivering quality.
Commissioners have a unique opportunity to shape not only what services do, but how well-equipped the workforce is to deliver them.
That makes capability a commissioning issue - not just a training issue.
How is your organisation using the Capability Framework? Has it changed the conversations you're having about workforce development, commissioning or service quality?
Tell us about your experiences
