North Ayrshire drug treatment exceeds Scottish Government expectations

Drug treatment targets have exceeded Scottish Government targets, it was revealed at a meeting of the North Ayrshire Cabinet.North Ayrshire Health and Social Care Partnership was challenged by the Scottish Government to increase the number of individuals in treatment from 882 individuals in April 2020 to 959 individuals by March 2024.Peter McArthur, Senior Manager – Alcohol and Drug Services said: “Against a target of 77, there was an increase of 247 individuals receiving treatment, which significantly exceeded the target set.“We are now awaiting a new nationally set target for 2024 onwards.“Against a local target of supplying 460 Naloxone kits (which rapidly reverse an opioid overdose) during 2023 to 2024, 679 kits were supplied across North Ayrshire.“Fifty-seven lives across Ayrshire and Arran were reported to have been saved through the use of Naloxone during this period (23 in North Ayrshire).The National Records of Scotland recently produced its annual report titled ‘Drug Related Deaths (DRD) in Scotland 2023’.In 2023, there were 1,172 DRD deaths registered in Scotland.

This was an increase of 121 deaths compared with 2022 (an increase of 12 per cent).Scotland continues to have the highest rates of any European country, with 90 per cent of these deaths classified as ‘accidental poisoning’.People in the most deprived areas are over 15 times more likely to die from a DRD compared to people in the least deprived areas, with males twice as likely to die as females.Ayrshire and Arran Health Board saw a slight increase of DRDs last year, from 82 deaths in 2022 to 83 deaths in 2023.In North Ayrshire, there was a slight decrease from 37 deaths in 2022 to 36 in 2023.East Ayrshire saw a slight increase from 30 deaths in 2022