MEDIA RELEASE
Private Providers Exploit Drug Rehabilitation Patients in Victoria.
The Health Complaints Commissioner (HCC) Karen Cusack has announced alcohol and drug rehabilitation patients are being exploited by unregulated private clinics in Victoria.
Minister for Mental Health Martin Foley declared on November 17, 2017 the Victorian Government would fund an eighteen-month investigation by the HCC to review private health service providers offering drug rehabilitation and counselling in Victoria.
The HCC report released on March 5 this year found there was an undersupply of alcohol and other drug (AOD) treatment providers, with 40,000 Victorians accessing public services each year, many vulnerable patients are being taken advantage of by unscrupulous private providers.
Ms Cusack’s report demands regulation of the rehabilitation and counselling sector, making 21 recommendations to align private health care services with the safety and ethical nature of public AOD providers.
The three main recommendations of the HCC report stipulate: a mandatory registration and licensing scheme for all private AOD entities and individual treatment providers; introducing a mandatory registration scheme for all private AOD workers who provide treatment services; and a worker with a professional title qualification requirement.
The HCC office received 49 complaints against private rehabilitation providers from February 2017 and a further 53 complaints between the May 2018 and August 2019 investigation, resulting in four AOD private treatment service providers being forced to close.
The report found that AOD use is responsible for more than $55 billion in preventable Australian health issues each year, causing 1795 drug related deaths in 2017.
The investigation states in 2019 alcohol and ice, crystal methamphetamine, were the two most harmful substances in Australia and heroin and ice were among the most harmful to users.
The Victorian Government’s Drug rehabilitation plan provides $87 million to stop the growing use of the drug ice, including 100 new rehabilitation beds to treat an additional 400 patients per year, a medically supervised injecting trial centre at North Richmond Community Health, AOD workforce training initiatives, more support for people with addiction and new measures to target unsafe private treatment providers and those involved in organised crime.
Australian Patients Association (APA) CEO Stephen Mason said, “the APA calls on the Minister for Health Martin Foley to ensure that more funds are provided for in this year’s budget to adequately resource the public rehabilitation system so that those in desperate need are not forced to turn to an unscrupulous operator who will exploit them.”
There are three main types of AOD treatment providers in Victoria: a publicly funded rehabilitation centre; a registered for-profit detoxification private day procedure centre and hospital overseen by the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS); and other privately run AOD treatment providers that operate on a for-profit basis.
In Victoria patients can access public rehabilitation treatment two ways: firstly, by contacting DirectLine which provides 24 hour a day counselling and referral; and secondly by contacting a local intake provider for triage assessment and referral to a catchment-based intake service.
Access to publicly funded AOD treatment services remains an ongoing issue and the DHHS does not provide details on waiting times for a rehabilitation bed vacancy, the HCC report states less than half patients seeking treatment can access it.
Odyssey House, a publicly funded rehabilitation centre that services patients in the inner Melbourne catchment area, informed the HCC that access is given to priority groups: a single male can wait between one and three months, while an Aboriginal woman will only wait one to three weeks.
The HCC report found the most common complaint against private providers was financial exploitation with centres charging up to $32,500 for 90 days in residential rehabilitation treatment or patients being unable to secure a refund if they chose to exit the clinic before the end date.
The investigation revealed private providers were accused of misleading promotional material, poor facilities, harassing behaviour, unqualified staff, untreated mental health issues, drug use on the premises and lack of treatment or inadequate treatment.
Further allegations against private rehabilitators found that clients had been told to release their superannuation entitlements early to pay for AOD treatments, in other situations clients were intoxicated or in a state of addiction withdrawal when they signed contracts, claiming to be unaware of what they were signing up for.
Private providers were accused of misrepresenting services, advertising art therapy, yoga massages, hiking, swimming, which several complainants said were not available when they signed up or would only be provided at an additional cost.
When compared to Odyssey House site visits by the HCC found the quality of private providers to be inadequate, dirty, and unsafe, the report recommends all private operators be regularly audited to comply with health regulations and offer safe and effective treatment.
The investigation found lack of competence in the private sector where staff were administering treatment without professional training compared to publicly funded Odyssey House where the DHHS has implemented a minimum qualification strategy.
Both public and private sectors offer AOD treatment by people with lived experience, the report recommends staff undergo the 12-month stand-down period, adhered to at Odyssey House, between completing rehabilitation and becoming a staff member.
Mr Mason said “the APA agrees with the findings of the Health Complaints Commissioner.
The private sector needs to be regulated with mandatory licensing and suitably qualified staff.”
“Moreover, all rehabilitation facilities need to be subject to random, unannounced audits,” he said.
Ms Cusack’s investigation concluded clients in vulnerable positions with AOD addiction experienced long wait times to access Victorian public services and were exploited by unregulated private providers offering treatment at an exorbitant fee.
Read the HCC recommendations of the AOD rehabilitation sector.
For media enquiries, please contact:
For further information: Stephen Mason, CEO, Australian Patients Association. Ph: 0408 944 859 email smason@patients.org.au