Thomas Gould
Question:235. Deputy Thomas Gould asked the Minister for Health the actions he is taking to restore rehabilitation beds to pre-Covid-19 levels. [56354/21]
View answerWednesday, 17 November 2021
Questions (235)
Written answers
It is important when looking at waiting lists for drug and alcohol services to be aware of the impact COVID-19 had on society and particularly on drug and alcohol service provision.
Several factors have impacted on waiting lists for drug and alcohol detoxification over the course of the pandemic. These include (a) a reduction 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, the necessary Covid-19 safeguards 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.
Notwithstanding the limitations of Covid-19, the Department of Health provided an additional €2 million for residential drug and alcohol treatment services in 2021. 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.
In addition, over €1.3 million is being provided for the establishment of a 20 bed residential therapeutic community for expectant women and women with children in the mid-west region, which will cater for 125 episodes per annum.
Altogether, this funding will provide an additional 475 treatment episodes.
Public health guidance and support have been provided to residential services during Covid-19. The restoring of rehabilitation beds to pre-Covid-19 levels will depend on public health guidance and the prevalence of Covid-19 in society.
I acknowledge the challenges faced by service providers during Covid-19 and will continue to support service providers to fully resume services.