Lack of funds barrier to residential rehab in more than 75% of areas – figures

A lack of funding is a barrier to the provision of residential rehab in more than three quarters of areas, new figures show.

A survey of Scotland’s 30 Alcohol and Drug Partnerships (ADPs) released on Tuesday showed 77% of the agencies reported finances as a barrier to residential rehab – seen as one of the key paths to ending Scotland’s drug deaths crisis.

Despite the issues reported in rehab, Health Secretary Neil Gray said some parts of the report had been “encouraging”, but Scottish Labour said a lack of beds was “putting lives at risk”.

Elsewhere, 67% of partnerships said a lack of stabilisation services was a barrier to rehab, followed by 57% reporting a lack of specialist providers and 53% pointing to waiting times.

The Scottish Government also developed standards to gauge the effectiveness of medication-assisted treatment in stemming addiction – with the first five of the 10 standards being met by 90% of partnerships, according to a report published earlier this year.

But the survey found 70% of ADPs reported insufficient funding as a barrier to meeting the standards, while 60% pinpointed geographical and accommodation challenges, 53% said a lack of capacity and 50% mentioned lack of staff.

Figures released earlier this year showed a worsening picture in Scotland’s fight against drug deaths, rising by 12% to 1,172.

Scottish Labour deputy leader Jackie Baillie said: “People on the frontline of Scotland’s public health emergency are sounding the alarm – it is essential that the SNP government listens.

“Far too many lives are lost and destroyed every year as a result of drug and alcohol misuse in Scotland.

“A lack of access to residential care is putting lives at risk and depriving Scots of the chance to recover.

“The SNP must heed these warnings and set out a real plan to ensure that Scots struggling with drug or alcohol addiction can get the lifesaving care they need.

“We need a comprehensive, joined-up plan to provide the right care to those who need it and ensure services can cope with demand.”

Scottish Lib Dem leader Alex Cole-Hamilton said: “By failing to move beyond the well-meaning words and promises, this SNP government has presided over a drug deaths crisis that is worse than anywhere else in Europe.

“Today’s disappointing figures show that the Scottish Government are still falling short on so many measures of good care.”

Mr Gray said: “We want every person experiencing harm from alcohol or drug use to be able access the support they need and we will use these findings to help us target our efforts.

“While we know there is much more to do, there is a great deal of progress detailed in this report that is encouraging.

“It acknowledges improvements in responding to emerging threats such as synthetic opioids and joint working to support people to get mental health care.

“It also highlights the use of surveillance and data to monitor drug harms, that Alcohol and Drug Partnerships are using feedback to improve services and all of them have screening options in place to address alcohol harms.

“Through our five-year £250 million national mission we’re taking a wide range of actions, including opening the UK’s first safer drug consumption facility pilot, working towards drug-checking facilities and widening access to life-saving naloxone.

“We’ve maintained a record £112 million to local ADPs for treatment and support services and those that are experiencing high demand for residential rehabilitation can access extra funding from our £2 million additional placement fund.”