Chamber and committees

The Drug Deaths Taskforce (DDTF) published a report of its first years activity on 31 July (a copy can be accessed here - https://drugdeathstaskforce.scot/news-information/publications/reports/scottish-drug-deaths-taskforce-one-year-report/ ). This summarises it’s work to date and provides information on the specific areas it has focussed on.

Reducing drug related deaths and drug related harm is a priority of this government, however, we know that this is a long term objective and that actions taken now will take time to impact on the numbers of deaths. However, the DDTF identified six evidence based strategies to reduce levels of drug related deaths and this is where it has focussed its energies in its first year. These include such things as the targeted distribution of naloxone, optimising the use of medication-assisted treatment and the need for an immediate response pathway for non-fatal overdose. More information on these 6 strategies can be found here - https://drugdeathstaskforce.scot/our-work/ .

The DDTF is continuing to take action on these six strategies and is providing financial support to Scotland’s Alcohol and Drug Partnerships to do the same, as well as funding a range of innovative projects which will also have these strategies at their core (more information available here - https://drugdeathstaskforce.scot/about-the-taskforce/funding/ ).

To date the Drug Deaths Taskforce (DDTF) has allocated funding to a number of organisations, information on this can be found here - https://drugdeathstaskforce.scot/about-the-taskforce/funding/ .

This includes £1 million which was allocated through a call for research proposals to contribute to the evidence base on interventions to reduce drug-related deaths and overdose, the experience of people who are most at risk and the services which support them. In addition, a further £3 million was allocated to Scotland’s Alcohol and Drug Partnerships to allow them to address gaps in delivering the six evidence-based strategies for reducing drug related deaths set out by the DDTF.

Further work is ongoing through the Innovation and National Developments Funding Programme (a funding programme set up by the DDTF and administered on its behalf by the Corra Foundation) to allocate £5 million in 2020/21 to projects which would allow for testing of innovative or immediate responses to reduce drug related deaths. More information will be added to the DDTF website on this as allocations are made to successful applicants.

Further finding has also been allocated through the DDTF to the Scottish Ambulance Service (SAS) and to Police Scotland, both of which are progressing plans around naloxone. SAS are rolling out a national programme of naloxone distribution following non-fatal overdoses, while Police Scotland are developing a pilot around police carriage of naloxone. More information on both of these projects will be published in the next month.

Public Health Scotland have also received funding for specific posts which have been allocated to support the work of the DDTF and its sub-groups (specifically the Public Health Surveillance group, the Medication Assisted Treatment group and the Multiple Complex Needs group).

The definition of an ageing cohort in relation to substance use, and in particular the identification of that ageing cohort starting at the age of 35, came from the report published by the Scottish Drugs Forum in June 2017 ( http://www.sdf.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/Working-group-report-OPDPs-in-2017.pdf ).

That report states that ‘The challenges of responding to needs of older people with a drug problem (OPDP), defined in this report as over the age of 35, are significant and will increase considerably over the coming years. Among people with drug problems, those aged over 35 will become the main client group in specialist services for the foreseeable future.’ It goes on to say ‘over half of those with drug problems in Scotland are now aged 35 years or over and face ageing much sooner than the general population in terms of both morbidity and life expectancy. Drug use and social deprivation have led to older drug users having health problems generally associated with people in the general population who are fifteen years older (Vogt, 2009)’.

There are no other areas of healthcare where a person is considered to be part of an ageing cohort at age 35 but the information above sets out why this age has been used in relation to substance use.

On completion the Drug and Alcohol Intervention Service (DAISy) tool will have taken three years and six months to be developed The business case for the DAISy was approved by the Scottish Government and Information Services Division (now Public Health Scotland) in May 2016. The DAISy tool will be completed and implemented from 1 st December 2020.

The tool will collect a range of data on people who access treatment and recovery services, including demographic data, trends in relation to drug and alcohol use as well as service performance and individual outcomes. This will enable local areas to better understand the needs of people who access their services as well as the impact these services and improve responses accordingly.

Information on DAISy is available on the Public Health Scotland website https://www.isdscotland.org/Health-Topics/Drugs-and-Alcohol-Misuse/Drug-Alcohol-Information-System/

There is no research available which directly links funding for services as a causative factor in the rate of drug-related deaths. The reasons behind the rising number of drug-related deaths are complex and many-fold; the reasons being reflective of Scotland’s unique challenge when it comes to tackling problematic drug use. This is recognised by the work of the Drug Deaths Taskforce which draws its membership from a wide range of areas, sectors and expertise – including people with lived and living experience. The Taskforce has identified a range of initiatives to directly tackle drug deaths and is supporting a range of innovative programmes and research.

2020-21 funding from the Drug Deaths Taskforce was allocated through 3 methods:

• £3 million was allocated to Scotland’s Alcohol and Drug Partnerships;
• £5 million was allocated to the DDTF and its sub-groups for an Innovation and National Developments funding programme; and
• £1 million was allocated to a specific research programme.

Of the organisations represented on the Drug Deaths Taskforce, those who have received support in terms of funding allocated to the Taskforce are as follows:

• Borders Alcohol and Drugs Partnership
• Police Scotland
• Scottish Ambulance Service
• Turning Point Scotland
• University of Stirling

We have invested around £895 million in services to tackle alcohol and drug use since 2008. The total financial resource is higher than Scottish Government funding and includes contributions from NHS and other statutory partners.

Details of funding to NHS Boards can be found https://www.gov.scot/publications/alcohol-and-drug-partnerships-funding-allocations/

Table 1 gives the total number of episodes of care of patients aged 65 and over to ICU and combined units in Scotland for the past 6 years. The data includes both elective and emergency episodes of care. The level of elective and emergency demand on hospitals during the spring was affected by COVID-19 and as such care needs to be taken when comparing trends.

There has been no variance from normal clinical practice in decision making around any aspect of ICU care for COVID-19.

The data is related to ICUs and combined units, excluding specialist cardiovascular and neurological ICUs. The number of episodes does not account for the length of stay which will vary for different types of patients.

Table 1. Number of episodes of care for patients aged 65 and over to ICU and combined units in Scotland (2015-2020)

The Scottish Government has funded the Health and Social Care Alliance (The ALLIANCE) for their work on a wide ranging number of projects. This work has crossed a number of Scottish Government policy areas including Children and Families and Health.

Within Health the Scottish Government currently has a Strategic Partnership Agreement with the ALLIANCE. This agreement sees the ALLIANCE receive around £4m per year in consolidated funding to deliver a range of projects and programmes within Health and Social Care.

The work set out in the agreement sits within the context of the Christie agenda and is intended to contribute to: improving outcomes, including supporting human rights and independent living; building capacity of individuals, families and communities; shifting to preventative investment; integrating services; and developing a sustainable approach in the face of falling resources and rising need.

You have requested information on how much funding the Scottish Government has provided to the Health and Social Care Alliance in each year since 2007. It is the aim of the Scottish Government to provide information whenever possible. However we have only provided the information requested from 2012 onwards because the Scottish Government accounting system was updated in 2012.

The following table sets out the payments made to the ALLIANCE in each of the years since 2012.

Table: Funding paid by the Scottish Government to the Health and Social Care Alliance (the ALLIANCE) from 2007 to 2020

There are no plans to introduce temperature checks in schools at the current time. As referenced in S5W-32464 on 30 October 2020, there is not enough evidence to support the use of Infrared Thermal Imaging devices to detect potential COVID-19 cases. Employing it, even as a visible sign of caution to promote public confidence, could lead to over-confidence and reduction of compliance with other measures. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.parliament.scot/parliamentarybusiness/28877.aspx .