An advocate behind Melbourne's supervised injecting room concedes it's not working as well as first hoped and has called on the state government to extend its opening hours.
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Reason Party Leader Fiona Patten says new data shows ambulance call outs for North Richmond to address heroin addiction halved when the injecting centre was opened.
But it's limited hours, between 8am and 7pm on week days and 9am to 5pm on weekends, has led clients to use drugs publicly in the streets, causing community frustration.
"It's not working (as) well as everybody had hoped it would, certainly (for) the residents," she told 3AW on Friday.
Ms Patton says the centre has helped thousands of people, saving clients from overdoses and connecting drug users to other drug services, including hepatitis C treatment and mental health counselling.
"You've got 1500 people who are getting medical treatment who weren't before and these are some of the saddest people in our community," she said.
But residents are increasingly frustrated there are still needles in the street, public drug use and overdoses, she said.
Ms Patten said other injecting centres in Kings Cross, Sydney and Vancouver, Canada have responded to the issue by extending their hours.
Nico Clark, the supervised injecting room's medical director, said early data showed a reduction in overdose call outs in the six months since the facility opened.
"It's too early to make much interpretation of those figures. Overdose figures fluctuate widely for a whole range of factors," he told ABC Radio.
"There's been a larger proportion in the reduction of overdoses in the hours when the room is open and this is a more reliable statistic of the contribution of the room."
Dr Clark said there have been more than 650 overdoses in the centre, which would have otherwise occurred elsewhere.
"There are an enormous number of people who are receiving benefits from the centre as it is," he said.
Dr Clark said clients are presenting with far greater health problems than anticipated and demand for the room is "enormous".
"If we see overdoses and drug use in Richmond, when the room itself is virtually full most of the time; it tells us there are more people injecting in Richmond than will fit into the room as it currently is," he said.
A larger room is being built because the temporary facility was recognised as being too small for Richmond, he said.
The trial concludes in 18 months.
Australian Associated Press