Shadow Cabinet Secretary for Local Government and Communities, Mark Isherwood AM, has expressed his concern that Welsh Government policy has placed the two remaining ‘Tier 4’ residential detoxification and rehabilitation substance misuse services in Wales under threat and called for a Welsh Government Statement on the matter.
Speaking in yesterday’s Business Statement, Mr Isherwood said the provision of these services by CAIS in North Wales and Brynawel Rehab in South Wales, both of which are charities, have been put in in jeopardy.
He said: .
“I call for a Statement on Tier 4 residential detoxification and rehabilitation substance misuse services in Wales. I wrote to the Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Care on 3 July this year, after concern had been raised with me by the two remaining providers in Wales, Brynawel in the south and CAIS in the north, where both sets of services are under threat.
"Brynawel said that the Cabinet Secretary has spoken of commissioning, but they are not commissioned, their beds are simply spot-purchased, and the pathway to residential rehabilitation across Wales is, they quote, 'fractured to a greater or lesser degree' for people who are dependent on alcohol and drugs.
“An independent report in the second Assembly, commissioned by the Welsh Government, on detoxification and residential treatment, found the whole service was underfunded. A subsequent report commissioned by the Welsh Government identified numerous reports of people reoffending so as to be able to be detoxed in prison and of hospital admissions because of the unavailability of in-patient detox and rehab beds in Wales. And that called for a substantial increase in capacity.
“A report commissioned by the Welsh Government in 2010 reinforced this message, and the then Welsh Government announced it was going forward on a three-centre model: Rhoserchan, Brynawel and Ty'n Rodyn. Rhoserchan's now closed, Ty'n Rodyn's now closed, Brynawel's under threat, and CAIS in North Wales has been forced to go into the private sector to meet the desperate demand for beds, including a partnership in Lancashire and a 16-bed private unit in Colwyn Bay, with concern expressed that Welsh Government policy has therefore pushed this essential provision out of Wales and into the private sector. I call for a statement accordingly.”
The Leader of the House, Julie James AM, told Mr Isherwood she would chase the response from the Cabinet Secretary for Health.
Mr Isherwood added: “We need investment in Tier 4 interventions, their integration with the other tiers of alcohol and drug treatment, and enhanced links between them and community‐based services, aftercare and wrap‐around services. To do otherwise will cost more lives and more money.”