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Young people's rehab centre forced to close

1 min read Health
The UK's only specialist residential drug and alcohol rehabilitation centre for young people has been forced to close due to funding problems.

The Middlegate centre in Lincolnshire has seen a drop in referrals in recent years, with local commissioners and the National Treatment Agency (NTA) instead favouring community based rather than residential rehabilitation schemes.

A campaign through Twitter and Facebook had been launched to raise the £100,000 needed to keep the five-bed unit open. But Middlegate chairman Chris Robertson confirmed this had failed and the unit has now closed.

Staff have been issued with redundancy notices and liquidators have been called in. The last person to complete the centre's 12-week rehabilitation programme left at the end of last month.

Robertson said: "We have fallen foul of the NTA's desire to push treatment in the community, which is a cheaper option than residential rehab. Middlegate has been in existence since 1995 and has helped more than 400 young people and their families."

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