GP SAYS DRUG USERS WILL DIE AT CHRISTMAS

A LEADING city GP today warned drug users were likely to die while waiting
for help over Christmas and New Year because waiting lists for specialist
services were effectively "closed".

Drug services in Edinburgh are buckling under the strain of 50 new
referrals each day and those expecting vital help over the festive period
face waits of up to three months.

Dr Roy Robertson, whose Muirhouse practice deals with 400 registered heroin
users, said the waiting list for the community drug problem service is "as
good as closed".

Lothian Primary Care Trust, which runs the service, admitted addicts were
facing a longer wait than they normally would over the holiday period, but
denied that meant the waiting list for services was closed.

However, Dr Robertson insisted the situation meant many of his patients
would be unable to get treatment they needed over the coming weeks, instead
facing three-month waits for vital services. He said: "We are faced with a
catastrophe. These are the most difficult patients and the service is
unavailable at the most critical time. We are skating on thin ice as it is.

"These are not people who can afford to wait, there are people who are
injecting heroin. The fact is that this service is just untenable. It is
not working and the management of it is not adequate. The fact is that my
patients are not being seen.

"I feel we neglect the drug-using patients terribly. They are being put at
risk of HIV infection, hepatitis C and other dangers. There will be deaths
over the holiday period, there always are.

"The way we prevent deaths is to get people into treatment and we are not
able to do that." Dr Robertson who is a member of the national advisory
council on misuse of drugs and was at the forefront of HIV research in the
1980s, said with the drugs service under severe pressure and day services
for the alcohol dependency service closed over Christmas, the most
vulnerable people are not receiving the level of care they need on time.

Dr Robertson has written to new Health Minister Malcolm Chisholm to voice
his concerns.

SNP health spokeswoman Nicola Sturgeon has also spoke out on the problems
facing Edinburgh's drug referral system.

She said: "To all intents and purposes the waiting list is closed,
regardless of what the trust is saying or what technical term they use for it.

"The bottom line is that patients are being denied treatment and that is
what concerns me about all of these instances of closed waiting lists or
lists that are so lengthy referrals are being put back. This is a problem
that spreads right across Scotland into different specialities and the one
thing in common is that patients are being denied treatment on the health
service."

David Piggot, chief executive of the trust, denied that the waiting list
for new referrals was now closed.

He said: "What GPs are being informed of is that there will be a longer
wait than normal for patients being seen. That is not closed to new referrals.

"The issue we have been in touch with GPs over is the community drug
problem service, which has experienced a high level of referrals and what
we are doing just now is discussing with Lothian Health through the drug
action teams how we might be able to get further resources into that service."

The Trust said the number of referrals has more than doubled since 1993 and
the active case-load is 1500 patients. It insisted psychiatric services are
always available for people who need specialist treatment for alcohol or
drug problems.

A Scottish Executive spokesman also denied that lists were closed, saying:
"It is not a closed waiting list. The trust has confirmed that, although
unfortunately, there will be a longer waiting time for drug users in the
New Year in Edinburgh."