Fears progress made on drug crisis has been lost

Head of government taskforce expressed frustration Covid-19 came at a time of development

Scotland’s drugs taskforce leader has warned measures taken to suppress the Covid-19 pandemic could result in rising drug death rates because of a fall in new referrals for treatment.

Research conducted by the Scottish Government’s drugs taskforce, headed by Professor Catriona Matheson, shows the fight against the pandemic may have worsened the drugs crisis.

Prof Matheson expressed frustration the coronavirus struck at a time when Dundee was beginning to make progress in its long-running battle against the drugs culture which has plagued the city.

Last year the Dundee Drugs Commission published a damning report into the city’s drugs crisis which found a lack of leadership in services, inadequate facilities and overstretched treatment centres.

In July last year it emerged there had been a record 1,187 drug-related deaths in 2018, giving Scotland a higher death rate than the US and other European countries. The commission was launched to tackle the city’s drugs death rate after figures suggested it was 0.23 per 1,000 people – almost double the national average.

Prof Matheson, professor of substance use at Stirling University, expressed exasperation the Covid-19 outbreak had occurred just as efforts were being made to implement the commission’s recommendations.

“I feel frustration that Covid has hit and set things back just as progress was beginning to be made in Dundee and elsewhere in country.

“The Dundee Commission was meant to be having a review but again that’s been put back because of Covid, as with so many things.

“The impact has been similar (to other places in the country) but I haven’t picked up it being different from any other part of the country.”

She said her task force is looking at “accountability”.

“So much has been devolved to local areas in terms of health and social care.

“This was something the Dundee Commission pointed out that it was an issue around leadership in that how funding was allocated and leadership on how funding was spent.

“It is an ongoing issue which is not going to be fixed overnight. All of these problems and the problems we have with drugs deaths, there are no easy solutions. It is all tied up in the structure of the system.

“There is frustration that Covid has hit at the point when we are making progress and this has come along and really set things back and that’s in Dundee and nationally as well.”

Prof Matheson was appointed chairwoman of the Scottish Drugs Death Task Force as it was revealed that the annual drugs death toll in Scotland had breached the 1,000 barrier.

The coronavirus crisis has contributed to a delay in the publication of 2019 drug death figures, which are not expected until the autumn.

Prof Matheson said numbers “were not going down” and estimated the figures for 2019 would be “in the same order” when they are finally published.

Looking further ahead, she warned the coronavirus would have an impact on future death rates as treatment centres and drugs services struggled to operate at capacity during the crisis.

Prof Matheson said it was “worrying”

This has come along and really set things back. PROF CATRIONA MATHESON

people had found it more difficult to get treatment during the crisis despite efforts to make services accessible.

She said: “There have been less new referrals for treatment over the last few months and that is a concern, because treatment is protective against harm and against drugs deaths.

“The evidence for that is very strong, so we need to try and get that back up and try to access treatment.”

She said treatment centres and services all over the country had been forced to operate at reduced capacity due to staff shielding or being off sick.

“If you lose a proportion of your workforce because they are ill or symptomatic it will have an impact. And it is not as if you can get agency staff as you might have been able to.

“There is definitely a worry in terms of death rates because having people on good-quality treatment is crucial to reducing harm and drug deaths.

“In terms of the work of the task force looking forward that is going to be one of the more challenging areas.”

The city’s drugs death rate was 0.23 per 1,000 people in 2018 – almost double the national average.