Working with a range of other organisations, the Shoalhaven Division of General Practice has been leading the push for detoxification beds in Nowra to service the entire South Coast.

Community representative to the Shoalhaven Division of General Practice, John Wells, said a local service was prepared to provide two or three detoxification beds.

“That will meet our needs,” Mr Wells said.

All that was needed for the State Government to provide funding for nurses to work at the site around the clock.

Mr Wells put the required funding level at between $200,000 and $250,000 a year.

The detox beds are not planned to operate in isolation, but as “part of a wider rehab and crisis accommodation service”, Mr Wells said.

A meeting with Ms Meagher is being organised to try to get a funding commitment.

Earlier this year, a group of women recovering from a range of addictions spoke about the need for a proper detoxification service, saying people were risking their lives by trying to detox at home.

They told of women being bashed, raped, and developing major health and psychological problems because of the lack of a drug and alcohol rehabilitation service in Nowra.

Yet seeking help for their problems was difficult because the region had no detox or rehab services, they said, and accessing the few services that were available often meant having to cross the State or travel several hours, away from family and support networks.

Often it also meant leaving children in the care of people who could not be trusted, said the women.

But they stressed without proper detox and rehabilitation facilities “we die, because it gets too hard to keep fronting up at a professional’s door”.

While Oolong House has for many years offered a place where men can recover from various types of addictions and substance abuse problems, there has never been a place in the Shoalhaven offering the same service for women.

The Shoalhaven Division of General Practice took a leading role in the push for a detox unit after many doctors said it was the region’s most urgent medical need.

Currently, patients detoxing from drugs or alcohol were being put into medical or intensive care beds at Shoalhaven Hospital, which Mr Wells said was unsatisfactory because it was taking up beds needed by other people.

And the perfect solution, he said, would be to have a professional detox unit with proper medical care and support to help people through the health implications of ridding themselves of drugs or alcohol.

A professional detox unit would also need proper follow-up, which included a rehab facility for women, Mr Wells said.

“Rehab has got to be part of the equation, along with counselling and ongoing support,” he added.