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Suicide and self-harm among people in residential drug and alcohol treatment facilities could increase when the proposed national care standards are introduced in September, a leading charity has warned.

The European Association for The Treatment of Addiction (EATA), which delivers more than half of the residential treatment for drugs services for drug addicts and alcoholics in the UK, is concerned that some of the proposals are not suitable for drug and alcohol rehabilitation centres.

Spokesperson for EATA Simon Shepherd said: "The proposals threaten to increase self-harm and suicide among young people and undermine treatment effectiveness. People who are dependent on drugs, for instance, are between 20 and 30 times more likely to commit suicide than people who are not dependent on drugs."

The charity has raised concerns about parts of the proposals that say all residents should have separate bedrooms, bathroom facilities that are en-suite or adjacent to residents' bedrooms and houses should be broken into clusters of eight residents.

Shepherd added: "Having a room mate often helps to reduce the risk. Furthermore, it is commonly believed that room sharing enhances the treatment process and helps to improve residents' long-term outcomes."

But a spokesperson for the Department of Health said that representatives of drug and alcohol treatment facilities were members of the reference group that advised the Department of Health during the development of the standards.

Several consultation events aimed at seeking the views of service users and providers, which "included strong support for single rooms and equally strong support for shared provision," has also been carried out.

The spokesman said that a comprehensive survey of existing provision showed that units with multiple occupancy were in the minority.

"We recognise that EATA has considerable experience in this field and its views will be taken into account as part of the consultation process."

Shepherd also said the government's proposals undermined attempts to tackle drug and alcohol problems. He said: "It seems strange at a time when the government is seeking to tackle drug and alcohol problems that it is inadvertently going to undermine the availability and effectiveness of residential treatment - especially given the proven contribution that residential treatment can make to crime reduction."