A drug rehabilitation expert has slammed the Health Service Executive (HSE) for only providing 30 detox beds while there are as many as 20,000 heroin addicts nationwide.
The HSE only funds a total of 30 public residential rehabilitation beds in Cherry Orchard Hospital and the Beaumont Hospital while the country’s heroin problem spirals out of control, according to Merchants Quay Ireland.
Director of the group, which works with heroin addicts battling to get off drugs, Tony Geoghegan, said the lack of residential detox beds shows the HSE’s lack of interest in tackling the issue.
Mr Geoghegan said: "During a detox programme, people find it very difficult near the end — for the final push to get drug-free they really need a residential facility. The HSE’s policy is maintenance on methadone as it is cheaper than intervention and supporting a drug-free rehabilitation.
"To supply residential detox programmes and beds more resources are needed. Methadone is a cheaper option for the Government. People can buy a detox bed in a private hospital but that costs a lot of money to get treatment, which most people most certainly can not afford."
Mr Geoghegan said that while all the beds are provided in Dublin, the heroin problem is now worse in the south-east of the country as people struggle to access treatment services.
Source: Michelle O'Keefe, Irish Examiner, 25/04/2011
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