Mr. Ron Brownasked the Secretary of State for Scotland how many official National Health Service rehabilitation centres presently exist in (a) Edinburgh, (b) Leith and (c) Scotland generally, which deal with the drug addiction problem; and how many are planned for the future by the National Health Service.
§ Mr. John MacKayThere are no officially designated National Health Service rehabilitation centres in Scotland which deal with the drug addiction problem. Drug addicts are normally referred to consultant psychiatrists who see, assess, treat and rehabilitate them on an outpatient or day patient basis. Each consultant psychiatrist has one or two 579W beds which are used for addicts who require inpatient treatment for short periods. Drug addicts in Edinburgh and Leith are mainly referred to the Royal Edinburgh hospital for treatment and addicts in the rest of Scotland to their nearest NHS premises providing psychiatric treatment.