Derry detox centre business case submitted

The business case for a new addiction centre in Derry has already been submitted to the relevant government decision-making bodies.

This would appear to contradict remarks made by a Northern Ireland Office representative to a Westminster committee which discussed the matter on Tuesday.

Speaking to Derry Now, Derry City and Strabane District councillor, Emmet Doyle (Aontú), confirmed the business case had been submitted to the First and Deputy First Ministers, the Health Minister and the Health and Social Care Board (HSCB) in January 2022.

Cllr Doyle added: “I have been working with the Strategic Planning and Performance Group (SPPG) in the Department of Health around a needs assessment in the North West regarding addiction services, following the submission of the business case by the Derry Detox Campaign.

“Progress is extremely slow though, as the SPPG has only recently tendered for that piece of work.

“This did not happen because of the ‘New Decade New Approach’ deal, which in my mind is dead in the water.

“It happened because people stood together and continued to demand better services,” said Cllr Doyle.

Cllr Doyle’s assessment followed the meeting of Westminster’s Northern Ireland Affairs Committee, which was told the British government was working with the Department of Health and would provide the committee with an update on funding for a new addiction centre in Derry.

Highlighting the urgent need for an addiction centre locally, the head of treatment at the Northlands Addiction Centre, Tommy Canning, said last week’s report from the NI Statistical Research Agency (NISRA) had revealed the high number of alcohol-specific deaths in the North and reinforced the need for the new centre.

Mr Canning added: “The statistics reminded us of its urgency.

“The latest NISRA statistics make frightening reading. They show that 351 alcohol-specific deaths were registered last year. That was exactly the same number as in the previous year and significantly more than 10 years earlier.

“It means that on average, almost every day in Northern Ireland, last year and the year before, somebody died because of the way they misused alcohol. If someone was dying every day as a result of the Troubles or on our roads, there would rightly be an outcry. But alcohol-specific deaths are hardly registering with the public at large.

“For the families and friends of those whose lives are being lost, every death is a tragedy. Sadder, still, many may have been preventable.

“The new statistics from NISRA show there were almost four times as many alcohol-specific deaths in the most deprived areas as there were in the least deprived, and that the Western area had the highest age-standardised rate of alcohol-specific deaths of all the Health and Social Care Trusts in Northern Ireland. While men account for almost two thirds of the deaths, the evidence points to an increasing death rate among women,” said Mr Canning.

Tommy Canning said the new addiction centre was referenced almost three years ago in the ‘New Decade, New Approach’ deal.
He said: “There is little sympathy for those whose lives are being lost to alcohol misuse. Yet, addiction is an illness, not a choice, and we should begin treating it as such.

“Very few of us are untouched by addiction.

“It affects people from all walks of life, from all social classes, of all genders and denominations. It can destroy lives, not just the sufferers' lives, but their families' and friends' lives, too.

“Thankfully, though, as we, in Northlands have shown, with timely intervention and the right treatment, recovery is possible.

"We are convinced that with proper support and investment we could save many lives that would otherwise be lost unnecessarily. A properly resourced addiction centre, as envisaged in ‘New Decade, New Approach’, would make a huge and positive difference to the lives of addicts and their loved ones.

“It is high time that the promise hinted at in the agreement was fulfilled, and that the new centre was delivered."

The addiction centre for Derry was raised by SDLP MP, Claire Hanna, who asked the British Secretary of State, Chris Heaton Harris, whether funding for the centre, referred to in the ‘New Decade, New Approach’ deal, would still be available in the event of a collapse of the Stormont institutions.

Chris Flatt, the director of strategy at the Northern Ireland Office, told the committee it was in touch with the Department of Health and was awaiting a business case.