Question reference: S6W-16946
- Asked by: Stephanie Callaghan, MSP for Uddingston and Bellshill, Scottish National Party
- Date lodged: 6 April 2023
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Current status: Answered by Elena Whitham on 4 May 2023
Question
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the appointment of a new Minister for Drugs and Alcohol Policy, whether it will provide an update on what plans it has to tackle the number of drug deaths in Lanarkshire, in light of reports that the area had the second-highest number of drug deaths in Scotland during the last quarter of 2022.
Answer
The Scottish Government remains committed to delivering work across Government, Parliament and beyond, to reduce drug-related deaths throughout Scotland, including Lanarkshire, and our National Mission will help achieve that. The National Mission has reviewed and learned from best practice at home and internationally and concluded that a public health approach to drugs is the most effective way forward.
A key part of that National Mission is the delivery of our Medication Assisted Treatment (MAT) standards and in Lanarkshire there is an Oversight and Implementation Group which has been established to oversee the implementation of these Standards. The group meet monthly and has Pan-Lanarkshire representation, including lived experience and family representatives.
They have submitted implementation plans to the Scottish Government, are reporting monthly on their progress, and are working with the Public Health Scotland led MIST (MAT Implementation Support Team) who are supporting areas to implement the standards.
NHS Lanarkshire is one of the highest performing Board areas in Scotland with regards to low waiting times. They continue to meet and exceed the waiting times target that 90% of people referred for help with problematic drug or alcohol use will wait no longer than three weeks for specialist treatment that supports their recovery.
There is a pan-Lanarkshire response to near-fatal overdoses in place via the Scottish Ambulance Service, and they have commissioned third sector outreach organisations to further support those with problem substance use and they have also implemented peer support initiatives. In addition to this work to support people still in active addiction, they also have a strong local recovery communities network.