Question reference: S6W-03173
- Asked by: Tess White, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
- Date lodged: 20 September 2021
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Current status: Answered by Maree Todd on 4 October 2021
Question
To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to a University of Aberdeen study that suggested that there was evidence of potential for an opioid problem associated with the influence of COVID-19 on elective orthopaedic services to emerge.
Answer
The decision about which treatment to prescribe is a clinical decision made by the prescriber in discussion with the patient, taking into account the individual’s condition and medical history.
Guidance is available to assist prescribers and Scottish Government is in the process of reviewing its “Quality Prescribing for Chronic Pain – A Guide for Improvement” which will include information on addressing the issue of over-treatment with a focus on self-management and non-pharmaceutical treatment of long-term conditions, highlighting the issue of high strength opioid medicines misuse and encouraging clinicians to discuss concerns openly with patients.
Over the period covered by the University of Aberdeen study, steroid injections (a commonly used therapeutic option for Osteoarthritis awaiting surgery) were reduced on advice from Royal College of Rheumatology due to the risk of activation of latent Covid 19 and risk of immunosuppression and susceptibility to the virus, this could have led to an increase in opioid pain medication prescriptions to compensate. Analysis from Public Health Scotland (PHS) shows a marked reduction in the number of corticosteroid injections between March 2020 and April 2021 before returning to previous levels. Analysis from PHS, however, does not indicate an overall increase in opioid pain medication prescriptions over the same period.