To ask the Scottish Executive what the average waiting time is for patients who wish to enter into a methadone maintenance treatment programme, broken down by (a) NHS board area, (b) local authority area and (c) parliamentary constituency.
Average waiting times arenot regarded as a particularly effective measure of the availability andefficiency of drug services. Rather, theinformation compiled by Drug Action Teams and submitted to ISD specifies thenumber of people who wait for less than a week, less than two weeks and soforth, for different types of intervention, including prescribed drug treatment.Table 1 presents information on the length of time waited, by Drug Action Teamarea, for (a) clients who have received prescribed drug intervention and (b)clients who are still waiting for prescribed drug intervention, for the periodJanuary – March 2005, the most recent period for which comprehensive data isavailable.
Table 1a: Prescribed DrugTreatment – Number of Clients Seen, January to March 2005
Time Waited Drug Action Team | <7 d | 8-14 d | 15-21 d | 22-28 d | 5-8 wks | 9-12 wks | 13-26 wks | 27-52 wks | 52+ wks | Total |
Aberdeen City | 19 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 26 |
Aberdeenshire | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
Angus | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Argyll and Clyde | 32 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 32 |
Ayrshire/Arran | 20 | 6 | 6 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 34 |
Borders | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Dumfries and Galloway | 26 | 6 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 34 |
Dundee City | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 |
East Lothian | 28 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 28 |
Edinburgh City | 25 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 37 |
Fife | 86 | 7 | 4 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 106 |
Forth Valley | 4 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8 |
Glasgow | 83 | 6 | 1 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 97 |
Highland | 7 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10 |
Lanarkshire | 22 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 30 |
Midlothian | | | | | | | | | | |
Moray | 8 | 6 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 17 |
Orkney | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Perth/Kinross | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
Shetland | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 |
West Lothian | 51 | 6 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 63 |
Western Isles | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Scotland | 429 | 51 | 23 | 14 | 16 | 0 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 540 |
Table 1b: Prescribed DrugTreatment – Number of Clients Waiting at end of Quarter, January to March 2005
Time Waited Drug Action Team | <7 d | 8-14 d | 15-21 d | 22-28 d | 5-8 wks | 9-12 wks | 13-26 wks | 27-52 wks | 52+ wks | Total |
Aberdeen City | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 5 | | 16 |
Aberdeenshire | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | | 1 |
Angus | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | | 0 |
Argyll and Clyde | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 18 | | 26 |
Ayrshire/Arran | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 6 | 6 | 9 | | 25 |
Borders | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | | 0 |
Dumfries and Galloway | 1 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 12 | 0 | | 18 |
Dundee City | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | | 1 |
East Lothian | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | | 1 |
Edinburgh City | 2 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 10 | 1 | 5 | 10 | | 33 |
Fife | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 11 | | 16 |
Forth Valley | 1 | 4 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 29 | 43 | | 89 |
Glasgow | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 4 | 17 | 13 | | 40 |
Highland | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 8 | 14 | 32 | | 59 |
Lanarkshire | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 5 | 2 | | 10 |
Midlothian | | | | | | | | | | |
Moray | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | | 0 |
Orkney | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | | 0 |
Perth/Kinross | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | | 0 |
Shetland | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | | 0 |
West Lothian | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 6 | 4 | | 18 |
Western Isles | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | | 0 |
Scotland | 10 | 9 | 8 | 9 | 30 | 29 | 109 | 149 | | 353 |
Notes:
d: days.
wks: weeks.
1. Prescribed drug treatmentincludes detoxification, maintenance or reduction programmes, and is defined asthe prescribing of a substitute drug, (e.g. methadone, lofexidine, subutex) forfacilitating the complete cessation of the use of illicit drugs, controllingwithdrawal symptoms or reducing illicit drug use. GP prescriptions are notincluded in this data.
2. The waiting time ismeasured from the date a decision is made regarding what is the appropriatetreatment for the client to the first date offered for beginning the treatment.
3. There is a wide range ofdemand for substance misuse services across Scotland, and to meet thisdemand, an equally variable set of practices across the country. In some ADATareas, the impact of a single specialized service - for example, a crisismanagement centre - may dramatically alter the distribution of waiting times.Consequently, to compare data across ADATs is risky and potentiallyinappropriate. These tables are intended to help ADATs monitor and manageperformance in their own areas over a period of time.