Question reference: S6W-26855
- Asked by: Tess White, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
- Date lodged: 15 April 2024
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Current status: Answered by Christina McKelvie on 23 April 2024
Question
To ask the Scottish Government what support it is providing to NHS boards to introduce tests to detect nitazenes in patients attending hospital with an overdose.
Answer
There are standard procedures in place in hospitals across Scotland for treating patients who present with an overdose, regardless of the substance involved.
Scottish Government has supported the introduction of a new surveillance study, operating from the accident and emergency department of the Queen Elizabeth Hospital (QEH) in Glasgow which aims to establish a robust toxicology surveillance system in the emergency department. A Surveillance Study of Illicit Substance Toxicity (ASSIST) has been in operation since 2022 and explores the feasibility of reporting characteristics and the causes of patients attending hospital as an emergency due to illicit substance use.
The information this study provides has been vital for informing services, staff, drug organisations and those who use drugs about changes in the drug supply through the PHS quarterly RADAR reports. In addition, its findings have also informed public health alerts, such as those issued by PHS in relation to new substances of concern in the drug supply, specifically nitazenes. This project received funding of £212,304 in 2023-24.
A key feature of the agreed funding for the second year of ASSIST was to demonstrate how the study could be replicated in other emergency departments across Scotland to ensure the same information could be gathered and shared elsewhere.