Staff dole out drugs over the phone at ‘unsafe’ detox clinics

♦ Staff are prescribing too many drugs at rehabilitation centres and carrying out detox so badly they risk killing patients, a watchdog has said.

Inspections by the Care Quality Commission found more than six in 10 clinics for alcohol and drug problems were not safe, with residents at risk of liver damage because of poor drug control.

The regulator expressed “deep concern” and called on clinics to review their practices, after finding a litany of risks for those in the residential units.

Such clinics, run by the private sector, are bestknown for providing detox services to the rich and famous. But they also provide services funded by councils, prescribing drugs such as methadone and benzodiazepines.

In some units, doctors prescribed controlled drugs by telephone to clients they had never seen while staff did not know how to cope with common withdrawal side-effects such as seizures.