Recovering addict decries detox worker cuts

A recovering OxyContin addict, who credits detox counsellors with saving her life, is speaking out against planned cuts to the detox unit of the Cape Breton Regional Hospital.

The Cape Breton District Health Authority is replacing six workers known as counsellor attendants, who provide counselling and perform assessments on patients suffering from drug addiction.

The counsellor attendants don't have the credentials to perform the duties they've been doing, according to the Cape Breton District Health Authority. They will be replaced by other health-care professionals including nurses, licensed practical nurses and recreational therapists.

Melanie Denny, of Glace Bay, has been in detox twice for an addiction to OxyContin and has been in recovery for several years.

"The experience that these counsellor attendants have and the rapport they have in the recovery and addiction community, these counsellors are just so non-judgmental. A lot of them have had the same experiences that we've have," said the 28-year-old.

"A lot of them have had the same experiences that we've have. They've had 25, 30 years experience on the job and no matter what kind of training or skills you come with out of a classroom, it doesn't equal those years of experience."

The Cape Breton District Health Authority has said the counsellors will be laid off in January, as part of ongoing changes to the opiate recovery and addiction day programs.

Dozens of unionized workers, who are part of the Nova Scotia Government Employees Union Local 94, held a series of rallies earlier this month to protest the cuts.

They said they would have welcomed the opportunity to upgrade their training if the Cape Breton District Health Authority felt their training was inadequate.

"I really, really feel that they play an integral role in the detox process and they were the ones that kind of talked me through it and made sure that I knew there was somebody there to support me and that I was going to get through the process," Denny told CBC News.

"Without them, I definitely would have walked back out the door after the first or second day I was there."