Elena Whitham faces a barrage of criticism for SNP's much delayed MAT Standards for drug treatment.
Public health chiefs have claimed a big improvement in the implementation of drug treatment reforms that were branded a “disaster” a year ago.
Last year the figure was a miserable 17 per cent and political opponents yesterday claimed that today’s situation represents a scarcely better performance.Current drugs and alcohol policy minister Elena Whitham claimed the progress will help bring down our nation’s shocking drug death rate, which is the worst in Europe and has shown signs of rising again recently.
The first five MAT Standards include a pledge to offer on-the-day treatment, as well as allowing patients to choose whether they want methadone or an alternative. Helen, 55, who has personal history of heroin addiction in her twenties, said: “We dealt with a man in his sixties at our drop-in service, who had recently started using heroin again.
Labour’s health spokesperson Jackie Baillie said: “Today’s report shows that, once again, the Scottish Government has failed to deliver on its promises to tackle this drug deaths emergency.Baillie’s colleague Claire Baker described the MAT Standards a “disaster” when the equivalent report was published 12 months ago.
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