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Scotland's first rehab clinic for parents opens in Saltcoats

A rehabilitation facility which allows parents to be treated for addiction without being separated from their children has opened in North Ayrshire.

The £8m Harper House is the first of its kind in Scotland and is based on a similar model in Sheffield.

It comes as the charity Faces and Voices of Recovery (Favor) released a report which claims there is still a postcode lottery for treatment.

Drugs Policy Minister Angela Constance said there was "much more to do".

The facility is run by the Phoenix Futures charity and is situated at a former care home in Saltcoats.

It was awarded more than £8m in Scottish government grant funding last year to establish a family rehabilitation service, accepting referrals from across Scotland. 

The treatment programme combines therapeutic interventions, parenting interventions and childcare.

A similar service was set up in Sheffield by the charity in 2012 - for a time it was the only form of family rehab in the UK.

Despite the progress, campaigners claim that political leaders have forgotten the drug deaths crisis.

A report by Favor called access to residential rehab inconsistent, claiming some local authorities are refusing to refer addicts seeking help to services outside their area

It adds that "some people have been waiting years for appointments with recovery services" and claims that in many cases treatment "is solely pharmaceutical", with users prescribed drugs such as methadone and buvidal but given "no mental health support at all".

The report recommends a clear definition of residential rehabilitation be introduced, saying this would ensure "nobody is sent to pretend rehab facilities that are really stabilisation or detox services".

It calls for a centralised referral and funding system "to end the postcode lottery to residential rehab" and also suggests guidelines be brought in to ensure "mental health support is provided alongside substance management and pharmaceutical treatment".

Speaking to BBC Radio's Good Morning Scotland programme, chief executive Annemarie Ward said the 20-bed facility at Harper House would not cover the national demand.

She said: "In Glasgow we've went from a total of 17 rehab beds to 23 in the last 18 months since the money was invested. 

"I don't know where the money is going, the auditor general doesn't know where the money is going but trust me, it's not going into residential rehab. 

"We've got hundreds of thousands of people in Scotland who are suffering from alcohol and other drug addictions. Even if the Scottish government's claims were real, that there are 500 odd beds available - come on, it's still nowhere near enough to treat Scotland's population."

Despite a recent decline, Scotland still has the highest rate of drug deaths in Europe.

According to figures from Public Health Scotland, the number of people in residential rehabilitation for alcohol and drug addiction went up to 218 between April and June this year, compared to 78 during the same period last year.

However Ms Constance has pledged 1,000 rehab placements by 2026.

She said: "We're beginning to make really good progress with residential rehabilitation. In the last financial year alone through Scottish government funding I know that there were over 500 placements in residential rehab that came from local partnerships and services. That's a good step forward. 

"This is about keeping our promise to Scotland's children, it's about keeping families together and giving people hope and ensuring that we can do much more to turn people's lives around.

"There is always so much more to do - we've got our eyes wide open. The national mission is a long term commitment but it's also about picking up the pace."

Scottish Conservative leader Douglas Ross meanwhile said the "damning report" from Favor "shows that drug deaths remain Scotland's national shame on Nicola Sturgeon's watch".

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