Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 21 April 2021
1905. Deputy Thomas Gould asked the Minister for Health if he has engaged with the Minister for State with responsibility for public health, well-being and the national drugs strategy on the increased residential treatment waiting times. [19268/21]
View answerThe national drugs strategy commits to improving access to drug and alcohol services. The Department provides over €150 million to provide drug and alcohol services every year.
The Health Research Board reports annually on the number of cases treated for problem drug an alcohol use. In 2019, there were 10,666 cases treated for problem drug use and 7,546 cases treated for problem alcohol use. These data include 1,571 inpatient drug treatment cases, where the client attending the service stays overnight, e.g., in-patient detoxification, therapeutic communities, respite and step down, and 2,806 inpatient alcohol treatment cases.
In 2021, the Department of Health provided an additional €2 million for drug and alcohol treatment services. This funding will provide an additional 100 stabilisation treatment episodes as part of the North East Inner City initiative, a further 150 episodes nationally in tier 4 residential treatment services and 100 treatment episodes in a residential step-up treatment facility for CHOs 3, 4 and 5.
During Covid-19, the Government prioritised the restoration and continuation of drug and alcohol treatment services. Keeping people safe and operating services within the public health guidelines is key to curbing the spread of the virus and reducing the risk of infection for staff and clients.
Several factors have impacted on waiting lists for drug and alcohol detoxification over the course of the pandemic. These include (a) a reduction reduced in capacity to comply with public health guidance, (b) restrictions on new entries, (c) closures due to outbreaks and (d) difficulties carrying out face to face assessments and validating waiting lists as many of the interactions are telephone only.
Unfortunately, these necessary safe-guards have resulted in increases in waiting times for residential addiction treatment across the country ranging from an average of 2-6 weeks in some services to an average of 6-9 months in other services.
The HSE cannot change the capacity issues that have arisen due to the introduction of social distancing measures to deal with the Covid 19 pandemic. It is anticipated that the HSE will purchase all planned treatment episodes, including the additional episodes outlined above, this year.
The Minister for Health and I are fully committed to the provision of additional drug and alcohol treatment services. We acknowledge the challenges faced by service providers during Covid-19 and will continue to support service providers in the full resumption of services.
