Drug addicts are given free taxis to pick up their NHS heroin at treatment facility

More than £80,000 of taxpayers’ money has been spent hiring taxis to take drug addicts to an NHS clinic to inject them with ‘free’ heroin.

Addicts with a ‘chaotic’ lifestyle are picked up and taken to the £4 million clinic, where they are given the class A drug.

Earlier this year, the Mail revealed that the heroin-assisted treatment facility had cost taxpayers more than £165,000 per patient – ​​and recorded 26 overdoses.

The latest figures, which come amid a row over Scotland’s drug death rate, the highest in Europe, sparked anger at a time when the NHS is in crisis and waiting lists are rising.

Anti-drug activist Annemarie Ward, from human rights organization FAVOR UK, said: ‘This is basically the state acting as a ‘facilitator’ for addicts, encouraging them not to take responsibility for their own lives.

‘There is a difference between rights and responsibility. Of course people have the right to treatment for addiction, but people also have to take their own responsibility.

“This brings us into the realm of sick codependency, where millions are spent on giving heroin to patients when a place in rehab is comparatively much more cost-effective.”

The Mail has learned that some patients have been collected from pubs or other locations rather than their own homes to be taken to the heroin clinic in Glasgow.

Ms Ward, an outspoken critic of the SNP government’s drug strategy, said the center was designed to tackle the chaotic lifestyles of drug addicts – but the fact that patients depend on taxis to get to their appointments suggests it fails to restore stability for the patients’ lives.

The aim is to help people whose addiction has progressed to the point where methadone has proven ineffective – so the NHS gives them heroin.

In March, only 24 people were found to have participated in the Enhanced Drug Treatment Service (EDTS).

Ms Ward (pictured), a vocal critic of the SNP government’s drug strategy, said the center was designed to tackle the chaotic lifestyles of drug addicts, but the fact that patients depend on taxis to get to their appointments, suggests that it fails to restore stability to patients’ lives

Since 2019, there have been 26 overdoses, while 12 patients have been transferred to other support services.

Now NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde (NHSGGC), which runs the EDTS, has revealed that £80,027 of taxpayers’ money has been spent on taxis for EDTS patients since 2019.

It said taxi rides are “planned and agreed on an individual basis for a temporary period of time to support people to engage with services.”

Pharmaceutical grade heroin is given to addicts on the EDTS under medical supervision to prevent them from using deadly street heroin.

NHSGGC said in March that a total of £3,966,001 had been spent on the scheme between its launch in 2019 and the end of last year, with 24 people treated so far.

There have been “26 cases” where current or former patients with EDTS “reported due to overdose.”

The health board insisted that ‘monitoring of patients shows that those who complete one year of treatment’ have a significantly lower number of overdoses during treatment in EDTS compared to the previous year.

Last night Sue Webber, the Scottish Tory’s drugs spokesperson, said: ‘While these programs may support some people, there are much better ways that almost six-figure sums could be spent helping people struggling with addiction to get the support they need. they need to transform their lives. lives.

“That includes ministers finally giving their support to the Scottish Conservatives’ Right to Restoration Act, which would guarantee the right of access to treatment for anyone struggling with addiction.”

In July last year, Scotland’s drug death toll was labeled a ‘national emergency’ as official figures showed an average of four victims per day.

The Scottish Government has maintained that ‘there is a strong body of evidence supporting the effectiveness of heroin-assisted treatment – showing that street drug use can be reduced and individuals are more likely to remain in treatment’.

An NHSGGC spokesperson said: ‘Where applicable, taxis will be provided for service users in all alcohol and drug recovery services in Glasgow, including the Enhanced Drug Treatment Services, and will be budgeted accordingly.

“Due to the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, costs had increased in 2020 and 2021, in line with unforeseen circumstances, with users requiring personalized assessments, assessments and interventions.

‘Figures from 2022 show a decrease in spending of more than 88 percent compared to 2020.’