This, on the Scottish Drugs Taskforce, ignored by BBC Scotland, was forwarded to us by indyref2soon

‘Kindness, Compassion and Hope’ is the title of the Dundee Commission report that laid bare the failings of treatment and care and monitoring of these services which led to the tragedy of escalating drug deaths in Dundee. After an intensive period of scrutiny and self-reflection it seems like local leaders, and those working in key positions, are now making the changes required. Representatives of the Dundee Commission and The Dundee Partnership came together to share their learnings with the Drug Death Taskforce when we met in Dundee this week. Key messages that other parts of the country must take on board are strong leadership and self-reflection at a personal, service and system level.

We heard of positive developments in Dundee on targeting non-fatal overdoses through active outreach, moving towards low threshold treatment and using other models such as non-medical prescribers, which is essential given the lack of general practice involvement in that area. Also the ability to rapidly analyse toxicology samples in a recent cluster of cases was crucial in identifying a new benzodiazepine on the illicit market.  This underlines the need for a rapid and responsive surveillance system. The Taskforce will be working closely with Dundee moving forward for mutual learning.

A draft of a Taskforce strategy document was also shared which covers a number of areas the evidence tells us should be prioritised. These are:

1 – Targeted distribution of naloxone

2 – Immediate response pathway for non-fatal overdose

3 – Medication Assisted Treatment

4 – Targeting the people most at risk (multiple complex needs)

5 – Public Health Surveillance

6 – Equity of Support for People in the Criminal Justice System

Under naloxone distribution the decision was taken at the last meeting to ensure naloxone was distributed through winter shelters and peer to peer outreach. This was actioned and thank you to the homeless service providers for their cooperation. We are currently writing to health boards to speed up the training and supply of naloxone in the whole community pharmacy network across Scotland.

https://blogs.gov.scot/drug-deaths-taskforce/2020/01/23/kindness-compassion-and-hope/

Readers may remember another report, neglected by the Scottish media, of Glasgow adopting similar strategies:

NHS Greater Glasgow & Clyde taking steps NOW to reduce drug deaths: Not BBC Scotland’s kind of story