NHS Lothian Delays for Drug and Alcohol Treatment

That the Parliament understands with deep concern that patients in NHS Lothian are waiting longer for drug and alcohol treatment than in any other Scottish NHS board; further understands that, in the quarter ending 31 December 2018, only 73.2% of people referred to the West Lothian Alcohol and Drug Partnership were seen within three weeks; recognises that the Scottish average is 93.9%; considers that long delays for drug and alcohol treatment can be viewed within a context of significant delays across various specialities in NHS Lothian; believes that, with Scotland having the highest level of drug deaths in Europe, treatment delays will have a detrimental impact on public health, and calls on the Scottish Government to fund drug and alcohol treatment and to ensure that what it considers the national drugs crisis is met with a national response.