Readers' letters: Drugs deaths are a Scottish creation

"It was not Westminster that refused to back a call for £15 million to reinstate rehab beds”

Douglas Ross quizzed the First Minister on drugs policy in Holyrood today.

Drugs deaths are a Scottish creation

The shameful drugs death numbers were at least acknowledged by the First Minister who described them as “indefensible”.

But regrettably her supporters immediately look for somebody or something else to blame.

They may well do to remember that Nicola Sturgeon was Cabinet Secretary for Health and Wellbeing from 2007–2014, while she has been First Minister since 2014.

It had nothing to do with Westminster when the Scottish government cut, in real terms, alcohol and drugs spending by £47 million from 2014/15 to 2019/20.

The First Minster notes that the 365 rehab beds in Scotland are mostly provided by charities and it was not Westminster that refused to back a call in January 2020 for £15 million to reinstate rehab beds.

It was not Westminster that sacked her Public Health Minister in 2020. No amount of “spin” will detract from this tragedy and the blame lies squarely with this inept Scottish government.

Richard Allison, Braehead Loan, Edinburgh.

Tory conversion on drugs policy

Conservative leader Douglas Ross, says he speaks for the nation when he says "The drugs crisis is our national shame. It's a stain on Scotland that so many of our most vulnerable people have been left without hope, crushed by a system that is thoroughly broken".

This is progress when the Conservatives have reached a point where addiction is treated as an illness.

What a positive change from the political party that used to describe addicts as a criminal underclass who should be dealt with using all the rigours of the law

Their proposed bill with an emphasis on recovery and apparently written by an SNP member is a welcome development and should be considered positively with a view to incorporating its elements into other planned harm reduction programmes.Another piece of the jigsaw which Scottish Conservative MPs should adopt would be to put pressure on Westminster to allow the introduction of safe injection rooms, an initiative which has been successful in other countries, but not allowed by the UK government.

Gill Turner, Derby Street, Edinburgh.

Dementia patients need help near home

Over 1 million people are expected to be living with dementia by 2025, yet we have a system that is unfit for purpose.

A lack of community support means families often travel miles to access services to give them a break from their caring roles. There has also been a rise in hospital admissions for people with dementia due to lack of community support.

Sadly, all of this was commonplace even before the pandemic. Now support networks have closed down significantly, people with dementia have faced more pronounced symptoms and resulting pressures on family carers has affected their ability to cope.

As the Project Lead and Admiral Nurse at Dementia UK for the Closer to Home project, I am pleased that we can improve the support families across the UK have. Our Closer to Home clinics provide access to dementia specialist nurses, at a time that suits families.

We will be focusing on raising awareness of the service and its impact is Scotland. Spanning two years, the project aims to increase awareness of specialist nurses to create more permanent services to give families with dementia confidence and security.

For families who would like to book an appointment visit https://www.dementiauk.org/get-support/closer-to-home/book-a-clinic-appointment/

Helen Green, Dementia UK.