Financial pressures are preventing many people with addictions from getting help, according to a leading treatment agency.
Cork-based Tabor Lodge said, while 619 people were offered assessment appointments in 2012, only 376 attended, compared with 455 in 2011.
Their 2012 annual report said the recession, high unemployment, and discontinuation of private health insurance dominated the decisions of people.
“Many will raise their concerns regarding financing their treatment, with an increasing number of people reporting limited means or, in many cases, no financial resources to access treatment,” said the report. “As a result assisting patients to access treatment can be challenging.”
The agency, set up by the Sisters of Mercy in 1989 to address addiction in Cork and surrounding counties, said there were 218 admissions to its main service — the Primary Treatment Centre. Of these, 157 were related to alcohol misuse, “illustrating once again that alcohol is the most common drug to be treated in Tabor Lodge”. It said 45 related to other drugs, including the abuse of prescription medication.
Source: Cormac O'Keeffe, Irish Times, 15/07/2013
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