A TOTAL of 24 drug addicts living in Dundee were forced to wait at least two weeks for critical drug treatment appointments during the first three months of this year.

Figures just released from ISD Scotland—the statistics branch of the NHS—also reveal that around 30% of all recorded Dundee addicts were still waiting for an appointment a full year after making the decision that treatment is necessary.

In Perth and Kinross, 10 addicts were still waiting for an appointment as at the end of March.

That figure for Fife was 77—13 of whom had been waiting for up to a year and a staggering 39 who had gone without treatment for more than a year.

There were no addicts waiting for an appointment in Angus.

Nationally, 1298 addicts had been waiting more than two weeks for an appointment with almost 400 waiting a year or more. The figures also showed 755 addicts waiting for over a year for initial assessment.

Andrew Horne, director of operations for Scotland at Addaction Scotland, said, “We have seen just over 400 people in the last year and every one of them was seen within 72 hours.

“That’s not to say they will access full treatment but that they will certainly seek and obtain some level of help and support from us.

“Perhaps the people included in these figures don’t know or aren’t aware of our services because certainly nobody would wait for more than 72 hours unless they decided to.”

Last month the first national drugs strategy since devolution was unveiled by the Scottish Government.

It is hoped the strategy, Putting Scotland on the Road to Recovery, will help cut the estimated annual £2.6 billion burden of problem drug use to the Scottish economy and society.

Key measures include a strengthening of existing powers to seize assets from drug dealers and a tracking of investment in drug rehabilitation projects and the outcomes they deliver.

There will also be a new approach to achieve a better quality of drug treatment in prisons and a fresh approach to education.