EXCLUSIVE

BY PAUL HUTCHEON Political Editor

PUBLICATION of drug death figures has been delayed following a dispute over toxicology services.

A backlog of more than 900 cases means the latest figures for deaths caused by alcohol, suicide and drugs will not be released as planned.

Labour MSP Monica Lennon said: “Nicola Sturgeon claimed the toxicology fiasco had her full attention when I raised it with her months ago.

“But there is still no confirmation about what will happen to the toxicology contract going forward. This is unacceptable.”

It emerged last year that the number of drug-related deaths in Scotland had soared to 1187 in 2018 – the highest since records began.

Calls to declare a national emergency were made and the figures for 2019 were supposed to be released this month.

However, a dispute between the Crown Office and Glasgow University, which carries out toxicology tests as part of post-mortem reports, means the figures will be delayed.

A spokesman for the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service said: “COPFS appreciates the impact of the delays in toxicology analysis and has apologised to the families affected and kept them informed of anticipated timescales where possible.

“The Crown relies upon contracts with external experts for laboratory work and has been working on arrangements to reduce this backlog as quickly as possible in light of the pandemic response.”