Dáil Éireann díospóireacht -
Tuesday, 15 Oct 1996

Vol. 470 No. 1

Written Answers. - Eastern Health Board Drug Treatment.

Seán Haughey

Ceist:

163 Mr. Haughey asked the Minister for Health the drug treatment facilities available in the Eastern Health Board region; if he has satisfied himself with the level of services provided; the plans, if any, he has to decrease the waiting lists for detoxification treatment; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [18484/96]

Minister for Health (Mr. Noonan,

Limerick East): A wide range of services is provided for drug misusers, ranging from prevention and education to detoxification and rehabilitation. This treatment is provided through either drug treatment centres or general practitioners. Drug treatment services are provided at the following centres: Baggot Street; City Clinic, Amiens Street; the Aisling Clinic, Ballyfermot; the Drug Treatment Centre, Pearse Street; Ballymun; Clondalkin and Kilbarrack. Fifty six general practitioners are also involved in the provision of treatment to drug misusers.

Needle exchange services are provided at the following health centres: Ballyfermot, Summerhill, North Strand, Wellmount and Inchicore. In addition, a mobile methadone treatment unit, which was launched at the beginning of September is providing services to drug misusers in the south inner city area.

The board's consultant psychiatrists are contributing to the development of working Protocols and facilities for detoxification within the prison system, with a general practitioner working in this service under the direction of the board's consultants. The board's counselling staff also visit prisons on a regular basis to maintain continuity of care for those under treatment in the community who have been sentenced to prison and also to prepare prisoners for discharge back to the community services.

The Talbot Centre provides counselling and support for young people and their families. In 1995, 105 young people were in ongoing contact with the service and 79 families, involving 340 family members, received family therapy.

Rehabilitation is provided through two EHB programmes, the Saol project and the Soilse project. The projects, provide people who are stabilised on methadone with skills in numeracy and literacy and other skills necessary for returing to the workforce and to a normal lifestyle.

Voluntary organisations play a key role in supporting statutory agencies in providing a range of preventive and treatment services. During 1996, for example, the Eastern Health Board is supporting the following organisations: Inter Agency Drugs Project, Ballymun Youth Action Project, Community Awareness of Drugs, Coolmine Therapeutic Community, Merchants Quay Project, Anna Liffey Project, Rialto Community Drug Team, Mater Dei Counselling Centre, Clondalkin Addiction Support Group, Fettercairn Drug Project, Community Response, Killinarden Drugs Project, Ringsend Action Project and Fatima Development Group.

Detoxification is provided by either in-patient or outpatient methods. Experience to date indicates that only about one person in four needs detoxification on an in-patient basis. There are currently 22 in-patient specialised detoxification beds in the Dublin area — ten in Beaumont Hospital and 12, to be increased later this year to 15, in Cherry Orchard Hospital.

The number of people waiting for detoxification in the Eastern Health Board area is as follows: Beaumont Hospital, 24 people and Cherry Orchard Hospital, 25 people. The average waiting time in both facilities is approximately six weeks from the date of referral. This situation will be greatly improved when Cherry Orchard is fully operational with 15 beds and when a "downstream" detoxification programme from Cherry Orchard, which is at present being phased in, in conjunction with the Merchants Quay Project, commences. This will reduce the time spent in in-patient beds to two weeks, so significantly reducing waiting times and waiting lists for in-patient detoxifictaion. The Eastern Health Board is confident that with 25 in-patient beds and with "downstream" detoxification on offer through Merchants Quay, there will be adequate in-patient detoxification facilities to cope with the need for these services.

Despite the development of these services which have grown significantly over the years, there are still waiting lists for treatment and other deficiencies in services for drug misusers in the Eastern Health Board area. These issues have been addressed in the first report of the Ministerial Task Force on Measures to Reduce the Demand for Drugs, which was approved by the Government recently. The recommendations of the report in relation to service provision are: speedy establishment of information databases by the health boards in order to establish the extent of addiction; health boards to move to eliminate drug treatment waiting lists, with the Eastern Health Board waiting list to be eliminated in 1997; particular attention to the needs of young misusers in the priority areas; priority status for community employment (CE) applications offering integrated services for recovering addicts; a series of education and prevention steps, including enhanced truancy measures and anti-drug programmes for all primary schools in priority areas; an estate improvement programme for severely run-down urban housing estates and local authorities to develop sports and recreation activities in the priority areas within the national sports strategy framework. Additional funding of £14 million has been approved and arrangements to implement these recommendations are being put in place as a matter of urgency.