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Target for drug treatment
01/06/2009
The first ever NHS performance (HEAT) target for drug treatment will be confirmed in November and brought into force from next April - requiring Board chief executives to set out how they intend to achieve it and be accountable for doing so.
At a reception marking the first anniversary of the launch of The Road to Recovery, Scotland's first drugs strategy since devolution, Community Safety Minister Fergus Ewing pledged to introduce the 'tough, achievable' target as a way of improving treatment, saying that drug users must get help at their moment of greatest motivation.
Mr Ewing said:
"It's absolutely clear to all of us working to tackle drug misuse that motivation - wanting to change - is key to successful recovery from addiction.
"Very often there is a trigger point - the birth of a child, the death of a loved one - that leads them to want to change and give up drugs. Help must be available at that moment of greatest motivation.
"It is widely recognised that in too many parts of Scotland people face many months' wait for treatment - while others wait just a few weeks.
"We know that for every pound invested in drug treatment, around nine pounds 50 pence is saved to wider society in terms of reduced crime, less demand for further health interventions and economic costs.
"We have agreed with the NHS that across Scotland, waiting times for drug treatment services will be reduced and be provided at the time of need.
"In November we will announce the first ever performance target for drug treatment, which will commence from April 2010.
"We are now in discussion with key stakeholders to establish just how ambitious this target can be.
"I expect that NHS Boards, local authorities and voluntary sector partners will work in concert to achieve this.
"I am conscious that, in England, there is a three-week waiting time standard, from referral to treatment; and that this has been achieved within five years of the introduction of a target.
"Rapid access to treatment is no less important in Scotland. And while highly ambitious, I see no reason why, in time, a three week waiting time standard should not be our aspiration in Scotland too.
"We are transforming the delivery of drug services with new local partnerships to clarify roles and responsibilities and better identify local needs to ensure the record investment we're providing is focused on achieving agreed outcomes.
"Having the right range of services available to help people recover is vital - not just those that are cheapest or easiest to offer.
"Our drug strategy - widely welcomed and unanimously endorsed by Parliament - is focused on outcomes. Short waiting times are one milestone in achieving those outcomes - and an essential pre-requisite for more people recovering.
"Scotland's skilled health professionals have made great progress in reducing waiting times for other treatment services including cancer.
"It is now essential that we do the same for drug treatment services, so that many more people can follow those who I will meet tomorrow, on the road to recovery."