NHS Lothian bullish on drug targets

TARGETS on treating drug addicts will be hit, NHS Lothian has insisted, despite latest figures showing they are still some way off.

By December the health board will have to refer everyone who seeks help for addiction within eight weeks of contacting them.

And although half of drug users are currently waiting for longer than that, health chiefs said they were on track to meet the Scottish Government goal.

Latest figures have shown that around 47 per cent of addicts who want help with their problem have to wait more than eight weeks to see someone.

Of those, a large slice are waiting up to 26 weeks, while some are even approaching a year on the waiting list.

The position has improved dramatically in the last 12 months, and NHS Lothian's strategic programme manager, Jamie Megaw, said the board is on course to meet the target.

He said: "We are confident that we will achieve the drug treatment targets which come into force in December 2010.

"We are working together with the Alcohol and Drug Partnerships to improve access and expand our services."