In March, two new softening sites opened at Södertälje Hospital, to those who did not require advanced addiction care to be sent to receive medical supervision while they were sober. But there were few who could get help here and the majority of the drunken people who were taken in by the police could not get care in Södertälje, often because more advanced help was needed.

Several times people were considered to need care in the arrest instead.

- We have a different assignment than, for example, the Dependency Center in Stockholm, which are specialists in emergency care, we had other opportunities here. The idea was from the outset that we would take care of those who were taken to town by the police and then it was judged that they did not require specialized dependency care, says Ylva Samuelsson, section manager at the Psychiatric Center.

Ended up in jail - despite empty rooms

According to the evaluation of the project, the hospital did not receive any patients who had a substance abuse, ie dependence on more things than just alcohol.

Of the 28 people taken by the police to the hospital, ten were considered to be high-risk patients and five were not accepted because of the workload at the hospital. Instead, the majority of them ended up in jail - at the same time as the care facilities were empty in the hospital.

- The patients who were here had different care times, so it can definitely be that it was empty here from time to time.

Wouldn't it have been better for the difficult cases to stay here instead of ending up in jail?

- Well, of course we all think that we do not want sick people to end up in jail, then they obviously need care. This is something that is analyzed in this pilot project to show how we can work forward.

Now she hopes that the collaboration between, among other things, the police, the dependency center and the hospital will continue to find solutions to how those who are cared for end up in the right care.