Chamber and committees

Published information on drug-related (or drug-misuse) deaths can be obtained from the National Records Of Scotland website - Drug-related Deaths in Scotland in 2021 | National Records of Scotland (nrscotland.gov.uk). Information on Local Authority Wards is information that is not held.

The following tables provide the information by Local Authority.

All drug misuse deaths by Local Authority

The number of drug-related deaths by Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation (SIMD) data zone quintile is not information that is held, but the following table provides the rate.

Drug misuse deaths in Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation (SIMD) Quintiles, age-standardised death rates per 100,000 population, 2010-2021

According to Supplementary Report to the Benchmarking Report published on 2 August 2022 the following areas are yet to fully implemented MAT 3:

NHS Shetland - Shetland ADP area

NHS Grampian - Moray ADP area

NHS Highland - Argyll & Bute ADP area

MAT 3 states that ‘Each service within the drug treatment system should have a documented procedure to identify and follow-up people at high risk of severe drug-related harm, including death’. These areas are as follows:

In January 2023 the Scottish Government will be publishing a formal response to the Taskforce report – Changing Lives – which includes an action to address inconsistencies in implementing near-fatal overdose (NFO) pathways under MAT standard 3.

Additionally, local areas have been directed by Ministers to have standards 1-5 implemented by April 2023. The Government continues working with identified areas to support them to progress the implementation in line with this timeframe.

The National Health Service (Scotland) Act 1978 Act places a broad general duty on the Scottish Ministers to improve health in Scotland and confers functions which assist in performing that duty. However, that duty and those functions cannot be viewed in isolation. Per the Scotland Act 1998, the Scottish Ministers cannot exercise their functions in a manner which would be outside of devolved competence.

Although the Scottish Government is taking a public health approach to drug dependence, if the Scottish Ministers were to exercise their functions (including functions which relate to health improvement) in a way which conflicts with the subject matter of the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971 then that would be outside competence.

The work being done by Glasgow City Health and Social Care Partnership to explore the possibility of a Safer Drug Consumption Facility in Scotland, within the current legal framework, has been done carefully with the benefit of their independent legal advice. In the event of a positive outcome to work carried out by partners, we will quickly establish a Safer Drug Consumption Facility in Glasgow.

£10.3million a year has been made available to ADPs for the implementation of the 10 MAT Standards. This is the specific funding for MAT implementation, and is in addition to the general funding for specific MAT-related activities such as outreach and near-fatal overdose pathways.

Public Health Scotland is working with partners to develop and publish data on the prevalence rate for problematic drug use in Scotland. The next publication will include an estimate of the number of people with problematic opioid use during 2018-19 and this will be published by the end of 2023.

The most recent figures on the prevalence rate for problematic drug use in Scotland were published in 2018 and covered 2015-16.

The national roll out of the Police Scotland Naloxone Programme has been delivered in 2 stages. The first stage was a test of change (pilot), covering the period 01-03-2021 to 31-10-2021. The second stage covers the period from the completion of pilot up to the point where the most recent data is available, 02-12-2022. The number of administrations per month, in each stage of the roll out, is provided below.

Test of Change period (01-03-2021 – 31-10-2021) – Total of 51 administrations

March – 2

April - 5

May - 5

June – 10

July - 8

August - 7

September - 6

October – 8

Start of roll-out (01-11-2021 – 02-12-2022) – Total of 44 administrations

November - 3

December - 2

January - 5

February - 4

March - 1

April - 3

May - 2

June - 4

July - 5

August - 2

September - 4

October - 3

November - 4

December – 2 (up till 2-12-2022)

Casualties at each incident are sign posted to drug and addiction services within their area by officers on scene. The details are recorded on the Vulnerable Persons Database, the details of which can be shared with partner agencies to assist the individual.

I refer to the member to the answer to question S6W-12709 15 December 2022. All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/written-questions-and-answers .

The National Drugs Mission Oversight Group has met three times. Meetings took place on 30 June, 22 September, and 8 December. Minutes for the group’s meetings will be published on a regular basis and can be founded here: National Drugs Mission Oversight Group - gov.scot (www.gov.scot) .

All individuals have a healthcare consultation with an NHS healthcare professional within 24 hours of arrival.

Whilst in prison individuals can self-refer to see the NHS Healthcare team and where needed, SPS staff can also refer prisoners to the healthcare team.

The SPS Drug & Alcohol Strategy, currently under revision, aims to reduce re-offending and drug-related deaths by adopting the principles of recovery to reduce the supply and demand of illegal substances and the harm caused by problematic substance use. The revised Strategy will reflect the national approach to embed Medication Assisted Treatment (MAT) Standards across SPS.

The Scottish Government published prison population health needs assessments for mental health and for substance use ( Prison population health needs: synthesis report - gov.scot (www.gov.scot) and Prison population health needs: synthesis report - gov.scot (www.gov.scot) . These reports aim to provide stakeholders, including the SPS, with a better understanding of the health needs of the prison population and help align services to support people whilst in prison, along with their transition into and out of prison custody.

The SPS is currently working in partnership with mental health experts to co-produce a revised mental health strategy for those in custody.