€1m drug and alcohol recovery centre earmarked for Cork

A €1 MILLION stepping stone drug and alcohol stabilisation service for the south of the country will be opened in Cork in the autumn.

The project will be for chaotic addicts who need immediate help ahead of accessing residential treatment. The service will focus on addiction as well as mental health issues of addicts. It will be the first such centre outside of Dublin and is being planned by the HSE. The service will be available to addicts in the south, southeast and midwest of the country.

A location for the centre has been selected but is not currently being revealed.

The coordinator of Drug and Alcohol Services for the Health Service Executive in Cork and Kerry, David Lane, said an appointment will be made shortly of a consultant psychiatrist to lead the service. Interviews for the post have been carried out in recent days.

He said: “We will have somebody very experienced from the perspective of dual diagnosis. One of the major projects coming up is the establishment of a stabilisation facility for people who are very chaotic in their drug or alcohol use. It is a stepping stone before detox treatment.”

He explained: “It will be for people who are caught up in addiction and have psychological dependence.” 

He said the service will handle “very complex needs”, including dealing with withdrawal symptoms.

More than 20 staff will be hired for the service, which will have eight beds. The staff will include nurses, occupational therapists and addiction counsellors. The facility will cater for males and females on a short-stay basis.

Mr Lane said that typically, people will be in the service for between one week and a number of weeks. There are currently two such centres in Dublin.