HC Deb 04 July 2002 vol 388 cc535-6W
Mrs. Curtis-Thomas

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people are waiting for places in detox centres in the north west. [64615]

Mr. Bob Ainsworth

The information requested is not centrally held. From information provided by the 22 Northwest Drug Action Teams (DATs) in treatment plans submitted to the National Treatment Agency (NTA) in January this year, the mean waiting time for access into treatment for in-patient detoxification services and residential rehabilitation in the Northwest is as follows:

In-patient Detoxification Services

December 2001:

  • Priority—average 4.3 weeks (range 0–20 weeks)
  • Non-priority—average 13.7 weeks (range 0–52 weeks)

December 2002 Forecast:

  • Priority—average 3.5 weeks (range 0–10 weeks
  • Non-priority—average 8.8 weeks (range 2–40 weeks)

Residential Rehabilitation:

December 2001:

  • Priority—average 5.0 weeks (range 0–24 weeks)
  • Non-priority—average 9.5 weeks (range 0–43 weeks)

December 2002 Forecast:

  • Priority—average 3.4 weeks (range 0–8 weeks)
  • Non-priority—average 4.7 weeks (range 0–13 weeks).

The NTA's priority is to reduce waiting times for treatment. It aims to enable practitioners, managers and commissioners to achieve measurable and sustainable reductions in waiting times, in line with NTA targets.

The NTA programme will achieve this by equipping local stakeholder teams, at DAT level, with the confidence, knowledge and skills to identify the main causes of avoidable waiting and to implement shared action plans to redress these.

Mrs. Curtis-Thomas

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many(a) drug rehabilitation and (b) detox units there are in the north west of England. [64614]

Mr. Bob Ainsworth

There are 17 specialist residential rehabilitation units in the North West of England for people recovering from problems with drug use. Nonresidential rehabilitative support is available from a large number of community drug teams offering a comprehensive service over most of the region.

Three of the 17 units also offer detoxification services. Additionally, there are three specialist in-patient detoxification units in the north west of England.

Many drug users undergo in-patient detoxification in non-specialist beds within existing psychiatric care systems.

As above, community based detoxification is widely available across the region.