Question reference: S5W-33376
- Asked by: Donald Cameron, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
- Date lodged: 18 November 2020
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Current status: Answered by Joe FitzPatrick on 2 December 2020
Question
To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the impact of COVID-19 on access to (a) needle and syringe exchange programmes and (b) opioid substitution therapy.
Answer
In order to monitor the impact of COVID-19 on people who use drugs, Scottish Government commissioned Public Health Scotland (PHS) to undertake surveillance on key indicators, including the use of needle exchange services and the provision of OST.
Based on the management information provided by PHS we are aware that there were sharp falls in the number of clients and transactions at Injecting Equipment Provision (IEP) sites across mainland Scotland immediately prior to the introduction of COVID-19 lockdown measures on 23 March 2020, compared with the pre-lockdown period and with 2019. Numbers of clients and transactions have increased in recent months, but activity remains proportionately lower than in 2019.
With regards to opioid substitution Therapy (OST) prescribing, real-time data from a subset of primary care practitioners indicates changes in the pattern of methadone and buprenorphine prescribing during the COVID-19 pandemic. For both drugs, the number of items prescribed per week and the quantity of drug prescribed per item increased prior to the introduction of COVID-19 lockdown measures on 23 March 2020. Following the introduction of lockdown measures, weekly numbers of OST items prescribed decreased sharply to a level that was below their pre-COVID average, while the quantity of drug prescribed per item remained above the pre-COVID-19 average. This suggests that prescribing continued throughout the COVID-19 lockdown period but that dispensing arrangements modified as a consequence of the introduction of physical distancing measures continue to be in place.
The Scottish Government fully recognises the essential nature of drug and alcohol treatment and support services, and it is for that reason that we, alongside the Drug Death Taskforce, took forward a range of work to ensure services remained effective during the pandemic. We also provided over £2 million for a package of measures to ensure additional help and support for those most at risk as a result of their drug and alcohol use.