Part of 1. Questions to the Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Services – in the Senedd at 2:09 pm on 14 March 2018.
During the 21 November Welsh Government debate on tackling substance misuse, I noted that, despite the all-Wales substance misuse framework for residential rehabilitation, large numbers of people from Wales proportionately were still being referred to providers in England that weren't on the framework. I have since received concerns from the sector, saying that the pathway to residential rehabilitation in Wales is fractured, there's a postcode lottery in access to residential rehabilitation in Wales, and residential services are not commissioned in the true sense but spot-purchased. How, therefore, are you delivering, or going to deliver, on the Welsh Conservative amendment that was passed in that debate unanimously, including with support from your own party, calling on the Welsh Government to increase capacity in tier 4 in-patient detoxification and residential rehabilitation services, recognising that this is not an alternative to recovery-focused services within the community?