With drug misuse deaths across Wales having risen substantially since 2008, North Wales Assembly Member Mark Isherwood has challenged the Welsh Government this week over why there is still a shortfall in detoxification and rehabilitation services, particularly given that recommendations to address substance misuse problems were made during the second and third Assemblies (2003 - 2011).
Mr Isherwood raised the matter with the Minister for Health in the Chamber yesterday.
He said:
“Since the Welsh Government published its 10-year substance misuse strategy in 2008 to tackle and reduce the harms associated with substance misuse in Wales, drug misuse deaths across Wales have risen from 569 to 858: in Anglesey, actually - up to the figures published in August by the Office for National Statistics - slightly better, down from 10 to eight, but, across North Wales, up from 81 to 98.
“And the ONS figures in August revealed that Wales had the second highest figures amongst the 10 areas - nine in England plus Wales - the second biggest increase in its rate over the last 10 years at 84 per cent, and the second highest age-standardised mortality rate for deaths related to drugs misuse by country and region. It is not a good picture.
“Why is the Welsh Government still failing to address the recommendations made in a series of reports it commissioned during the second and third Assemblies on substance misuse treatment in Wales, particularly detox and rehab, to address the problems identified by Healthcare Inspectorate Wales in their review last July 2018 - 10 years after the Strategy - that people found it difficult to get the treatment they needed from substitute prescribing and detox, rehab and counselling services because of long waiting times and a lack of capacity in services? The solutions were identified - why are we still waiting?”
In his response, the Health Minister Vaughan Gething, insisted improvements had been made.
He said:
“Actually, the data on waiting times shows that, in the last 10 years of the Substance Misuse Strategy, we have seen a significant improvement in waiting times - 91.5 per cent of people start treatment and are seen within 20 working days of referral, compared to 73 per cent 10 years ago. And our challenge is what our service is able to do, compared to the demand and the need coming into it and the broader challenges outside the health service that end up needing a health service response. So, I don't think it's as simple as Mark Isherwood paints the picture, that this is simply a case of the health service not doing its job.”
