NICOLA Sturgeon is to intervene in Scotland’s drug deaths crisis after admitting her government deserves criticism for the “completely unacceptable” situation.

The First Minister told MSPs she would attend the next meeting of the Drugs Death Taskforce in the New Year and report back to Holyrood by the end of January.

Apologising for the loss of life, admitted “the problem in Scotland is worse than it is elsewhere”, and said urgent, additional measures, including more rehabilitation beds, were being considered.

She said: “Many of the criticisms being levelled at this government today are legitimate and it is for me to take that squarely on the chin.”

She said she would work with public health minister Joe FitzPatrick on the next steps, but conspicuously failed to defend him against repeated opposition calls to sack him. 

Ms Sturgeon’s attempt to get a grip of the crisis follows official statistics earlier this week showed another record number of drug deaths north of the border last year.

The National Records of Scotland reported there were 1,264 fatalities, up 6 per cent on 2018 and more than double the number of deaths in 2014.

The rate per head of population was the worst in Europe and three and a half times the rate for England and Wales, which have the same drug laws as Scotland.

At FMQs, Tory group leader Ruth Davidson said rehabilitation services had been “cut to the bone”, with the number of NHS funded admissions to the Castle Craig facility near Edinburgh falling from 145 in 2008 to just five in 2019.

At the same time, the number of admissions from the Netherlands to Castle Craig rose.

Ms Davidson said only 13 per cent of all rehab beds in Scotland were provided by the Scottish Government, with waiting lists as long as a year.

Calling for a dedicated £20m Scottish Recovery Fund to reverse the cuts, she said: “Back in 2006, Nicola Sturgeon stood where I am – right on this spot – berating the then Scottish government for cutting rehab funding.

“The Trainspotting generation theory [that the deaths are largely older drug abusers] has been busted because the number of young people dying has doubled in the last two years.

“And the thing that is different about Scotland, the thing that is entirely devolved, is drug treatment and rehabilitation and that is what this Government has cut to the bone.”

Ms Sturgeon said she did not want to duck responsibility or shirk blame.

She replied: “I think many of the criticisms are valid and legitimate and we have got much work to do in order to ensure that we sort the problem of people dying avoidably from drugs.”

“These are real people whose lives matter and I am absolutely determined that we take the actions to fix this.

“I am not making comparisons with what is happening elsewhere [in the UK] because I do think the problem in Scotland is worse than it is elsewhere.”

Scottish Labour leader Richard Leonard said Mr FitzPatrick statement to MSPs earlier in the week about the latest figures had been “woeful”, with the minister repeated a tired line about there being no shortcuts to the problem.

Mr Leonard said: "People don’t expect short cuts. But they do expect the government to do its job. 

“When Instead they’ve seen cuts to funding for rehabilitation beds, cuts to the funding of alcohol and drugs partnerships, cuts to third sector support and rehabilitation organisations, and an abject failure to integrate mental health and substance use and recovery services. 

“And in so doing, the Government has ignored its own 2008 Road to Recovery strategy, the 2013 review of opiate replacement therapy and the 2019 Dundee Drug Commission Report. 

“Why, has the Government ignored these repeated warnings and presided over a 178 per cent increase in drug deaths since 2007?” 

He said the Scottish Government was claiming to do “everything in its power”, but exercising that power had “made things worse - not better”. 

He said: “There are now three and a half times more deaths from drugs in Scotland than anywhere else in the UK with the same legislation.  

“We have the worst record of drug deaths in western Europe. 

“So, isn’t it about time the First Minister exercised her power, did sort it out, got a grip and fired her Minister for Public Health?”

Ms Sturgeon pledged to “work with” Mr FitzPatrick on the issue.

She said: “Hopefully, as we go forward, while there will be legitimate criticism of this Government we can also build consensus on the steps that have to be taken to make sure that we do resolve this and sort what is an unacceptable situation.”

She added: “This is no comfortable. I’m not going to stand here and try to defend the indefensible. These lives matter too much.” 

Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Willie Rennie also called for Ms FitzPatrick to go.

Afterwards, Ms Davidson said dozens of people would die while the First Minister showed “shocking complacency” by waiting until January to decide whether to boost rehab beds.

She said: “Nicola Sturgeon’s apology won’t mean much to the broken families over the last 13 years who lost loved ones because she cut rehab funding to the bone.

 “World class rehab facilities are on our doorstep to tackle the horrendous crisis we face. The cuts to rehab mean that Scottish facilities are treating people from Eindhoven and Amsterdam, while people from Possil and Dundee are dying.

“By refusing to immediately deliver the dedicated £20 million rehab fund that people on the frontline are crying out for, Nicola Sturgeon risks showing the same shocking complacency that has characterised this government’s failed strategy to tackle drug deaths over the last 13 years.

“Dozens of people will die before the First Minister meets the Drug Death Task Force in January. She is out of excuses and out of time to fix this national shame.”

Ms Sturgeon's official spokesman was later unable to identify any positive difference Mr FitzPatrick had made to the drugs crisis and refused to name his best quality.