New rehabilitation centres 'needed for drug and alcohol abuse'

Wales
Wales
Health
Tuesday 31 October 2017 at 7:00am

Plaid Cymru has called for more rehabilitation centres to cope with the demand for drug and alcohol abuse treatment.

The party’s Shadow Cabinet Secretary for Social Services and Public Health, Dai Lloyd, said last year more than 350 patients waited between three to six months for treatment.

He has called for a network of residential drug and alcohol rehabilitation facilities to be established in all parts of Wales so that 'vulnerable patients can get access to care immediately'.

Plaid Cymru Shadow Cabinet Secretary for Social Services and Public Health Dai Lloyd said:

Patients seeking support for substance misuse are often at their lowest points and they need immediate help. But more than 350 patients in Wales last year were made to wait up to six months for treatment. It’s just not good enough. > There has been some progress in this field over recent years but still there are hundreds of patients being left in limbo as they await help and we need to improve the support we offer them. Plaid Cymru wants to see a network of residential drug and alcohol rehabilitation facilities to be established in all parts of Wales so that vulnerable patients can get access to care immediately. We also need to adopt a harm reduction approach to stop the number of drug related deaths and hospital admissions which has risen over recent years. This would include introducing safe injecting areas which has been proposed by Plaid Cymru Police and Crime Commissioner Arfon Jones. >