Addicts facing ‘barriers’ to drug rehab places, report finds
PROGRESS has been made in increasing the number of residential rehabilitation placements for drugs treatment but “substantial barriers” remain, analysis has found.
Public Health Scotland (PHS) carried out an evaluation of the Scottish Government’s residential rehabilitation programme, which was first announced in 2021. Backed by more £11million in funding, it was a key part of the “national mission” to tackle Scotland’s drugs death crisis. Angela Constance, who at the time was Minister for Drugs Policy, pledged to increase rehab placements to 1000 people a year by 2026.
The SNP minister told MSPs she wanted to ensure that “everyone who wants residential rehabilitation, and for whom it is considered clinically appropriate, can access it”.
The PHS report, released on Tuesday, said there has been an 8 per cent increase in residential rehab bed capacity since 2021.
In 2022-23 there were 812 placements, with PHS saying the upward trend in these suggests the Governthan ment is on course to meet its target by 2026. But the report noted that some of these placements were shorter in duration and difficulties in data-gathering made it hard to draw firm conclusions.
The report added: “There is evidence that substantial barriers to accessing residential rehab remain.”
The report said the Government should clarify its stated ambition around ensuring that everyone who wants rehab will be able to access it.
A Scottish Government spokesman said. “We’ll use these findings to improve the programme and work is already under way to address many of the issues raised. We’ll also continue to work with PHS to improve data to help inform our strategy.”