New EMCAT Report Says Progress on Patient Brokering Overshadowed by Lack of Regulatory Enforcement

A new report from the Ethical Marketing Campaign for Addiction Treatment (EMCAT) says that, despite two years of public attention and back-and-forth with regulators, patient brokering is still rampant in the UK addiction treatment world - and the main problem is weak enforcement.

The report, titled EMCAT: Two Years On, looks back at what’s happened since the campaign launched in June 2024 to fight secret commission deals - where supposedly independent advice websites actually take hidden payments to steer patients toward certain providers.

EMCAT credits the campaign for putting patient brokering under the microscope. Since 2024, the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has upheld nine complaints, released new advertising guidance for the sector, and started working on a wider enforcement notice. Parliament has discussed the problem, with ministers calling patient brokering “reprehensible.” Groups like the Local Government Association and Collective Voice have pushed for laws to ban the practice, too.

But enforcement just isn’t keeping up. An independent review for EMCAT found that out of all the websites flagged by ASA, only one has gone offline. The rest are still breaking advertising rules, and most haven’t changed much - if at all - since the rulings.

Regulators have talked a lot, but not much has changed in practice. EMCAT points out that, despite plenty of meetings between the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA), the Care Quality Commission (CQC), and other groups, there’s still no serious sector-wide guidance or coordinated enforcement.

Meanwhile, EMCAT estimates that about 100 suspected broker or fake treatment-guide websites are still preying on people seeking addiction help across the UK. There’s even one network, with 45 different “brands,” all pushing people to the same commercial operator. Undisclosed referral commissions - sometimes as high as 25% to 40% of treatment fees - continue to twist patient choices and put ethical providers at a disadvantage.

The report also raises the alarm about broker-arranged home detox services, especially when providers advertise into Scotland. Even after Scotland brought remote healthcare into its regulatory system, EMCAT says gaps between regulators still leave vulnerable patients at risk.

Not everything is bleak. EMCAT highlights some positive steps, like its own Code of Ethics, more media attention, better online ad policies in some areas, and the relaunch of Rehab-Online.org.uk as a clear, commission-free directory for addiction treatment.

In closing, EMCAT calls on the ASA, CQC, Competition and Markets Authority, and Healthcare Improvement Scotland to actually use their existing powers. EMCAT also wants the UK and Scottish governments to pass laws banning patient brokering, build a trusted national gateway to addiction treatment, and close the long-standing gap between online marketing and how patients find help.

The full report, EMCAT: Two Years On – Patient Brokering in UK Addiction Treatment: Progress Made, Enforcement Stalled, Abuses Continuing, was published on 14 July 2026 and aims to inform regulators, policymakers, and journalists about the ongoing challenges in the addiction treatment sector.

EMCAT 2 years on.pdf

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