Dr. Des Crowley:

There is a huge gap, and there are two aspects to this. The residential beds available are mostly detox beds. There is a real deficiency of stabilisation and residential beds. There are very few places for people who need to stabilise from drug use rather than becoming drug-free. Only one or two centres are available nationally in this regard. Basically, in cases where people are referred for drug detox, often this may not be the appropriate treatment but it could be the only residential treatment available to the patient. Sometimes patients may be inappropriately referred or may not have enough supports to manage their treatment journey. Again, there is a long waiting time. If something has happened in a person's life and they are motivated to do residential treatment, they may be left waiting six to 12 months to access that service. Life will be totally different six to 12 months later compared with when they presented to us in our surgeries.