Dishing out O.D. kits isn’t enough to tackle crisis
THE Scottish Government has been accused of complacency over dishing out antioverdose kits amid a drug death epidemic.
Public health minister Joe FitzPatrick has admitted he has no idea how many people in Scotland are trained to administer naloxone, which reverses the effects of an opiate overdose.
The man spearheading the nation’s response to the world’s worst drug death rate has also admitted the Government does not hold data on how much cash has been devoted to naloxone since 2016, a period in which the death rate has shot up from 706 to 1187.
Scottish Labour’s shadow health minister Monica Lennon was furious when she gave written questions to FitzPatrick, only to be fobbed off weeks later.
Lennon said: “The Scottish Government can’t answer basic questions about the action being taken to tackle Scotland’s drug deaths crisis. I asked about Naloxone training weeks ago and it’s embarrassing the minister hasn’t bothered to get this information.
“Where is the emergency response to the drugs crisis? It’s right that SNP ministers made money available for the national naloxone programme but
BY MARK MCGIVERN Chief Reporter it beggars belief that they don’t know how many emergency responders, like police officers or pharmacists, are equipped to use it.
“It’s hard to see where progress is being made and it’s unacceptable for the public health minister to send MSPs away to dig out the information he should already have.”
To Lennon’s query on how many responders in each emergency service are trained on how to administer naloxone, FitzPatrick said: “Requests for this information should be directed to the respective emergency services.”
The question on how much funding has been provided to the national