3 minute read
Thousands in need of drug and alcohol support services
Brodie Cowburn brodie@baysidenews.com.au
Liz Bell liz@mpnews.com.au
NEWLY released data has revealed that more than 1500 people in the Kingston municipality have accessed care due to alcohol or drug-related issues in recent years.
The Alcohol and other Drug Catchment plan of Peninsula Health, 2023 (Bayside Peninsula area), reveals that Frankston has the highest demand for alcohol and drug services in metropolitan Melbourne (2972 AOD episodes of care), with the peninsula close behind at 2262. Kingston had 1557. The data was collated between 2019 and 2022.
The catchment plan - which also covers Bayside, Stonnington, Glen Eira and Port Phillip - looks at service usage data to identify the needs of people with alcohol and drug (AOD) problems, and factors driving support and demand for alcohol and other drug services.
The data revealed that despite high levels of service need in Frankston and on the peninsula overall demand is not currently being met, with four week waiting times for services being common throughout 2022.
Last month, the closure of a Frankston general practice left hundreds of methadone users in limbo.
Frankston Healthcare Medical Centre, a private general practitioner, was scheduled to close in late September. It offered pharmacotherapy treatment to patients living with drug addiction. Methadone is a common pharmacotherapy prescription.
The GP’s director Nadia Siciliano told 3AW last month that more than 400 weekly patients would be affected by the closure. She said that the state government did not support the clinic when it asked for help.
“We have 1800 heroin addicts or drug addicted patients that come in that we treat,” she said. “About 400 to 500 patients a week that we see that are on methadone, sublocade, and suboxone will be at Frankston [Hospital] emergency department.
“Your [emergency] department is going to explode and if these patients don’t get seen the crime rate in Frankston is going to go up because a lot of patients are going to relapse.”
A Monash University report released in February revealed that private practices are overwhelmingly caring for most patients receiving pharmacotherapy treatment in Victoria. The review panel’s report, Review of the Medically Supervised Injecting Room, read that just 50 of Victoria’s 14,804 pharmacotherapy patients were in the public system.
“Victoria’s pharmacotherapy system (...) is founded on ageing policy, programs and regulation and is becoming increasingly difficult to access due to significant workforce issues and a dwindling pool of doctors and pharmacists willing to take on pharmacotherapy patients,” the report read. “While the number of pharmacotherapy patients has plateaued over the past decade, the panel understands this is indicative of high levels of unmet need.”
Frankston Healthcare director Siciliano said that there is a shortage of doctors willing to engage in pharmacotherapy treatment, and called the situation a “big problem”.
Frankston MP Paul Edbrooke was contacted for comment.
The Australian Bureau of Statistics has also released new figures that show that across the country, there was a 9.1 per cent increase in the alcohol-induced death rate in 2022 – the highest rate recorded in more than a decade. There were 1742 alcohol-induced deaths (1245 males and 497 females).
For support visit adf.org.au or call the National Alcohol and Other Drug Hotline on 1800 250 015.