§ 38. Mr. StreeterTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment he has made of waiting times for access to detoxification treatment for drug addicts. [82340]
§ Mr. Peter AinsworthWaiting times for drug treatment were not systematically reported before the establishment of the National Treatment Agency in 2001. Drug Action Teams are now required to report annually on their progress against NTA waiting time targets.
Waiting times for drug treatment have already been reduced considerably. In 2001, before the NTA was set up, the average waiting time for inpatient detoxification was 12 weeks. This had fallen to seven weeks by April 2003 and 31 per cent, of DATs have already achieved the NTA's 2003 target of a maximum four week wait. The NTA has set a further target of reducing this to two weeks by 2004.
Reducing waiting times is key element of our strategy to get more people into treatment. Between 1998 and 2001 the number of drug users entering treatment increased from 45,912 to 66,327. We are on track to meet our target of doubling the number of people in drug treatment by 2008.