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National drug deaths database
31/12/2008
Details of the social and medical history of every person whose life is lost to drugs in Scotland will be recorded and centrally collected from the start of 2009, in a bid to help prevent future deaths.
Minister for Community Safety Fergus Ewing said the drug-related deaths database - the first of its kind in the UK - would help inform service providers and policy-makers working to reduce the toll of drugs, which directly claimed 455 lives in 2007.
Mr Ewing also launched a new guide to provide family and friends of individuals who die of a suspected overdose with practical information about procedures, advice on coping with grief and additional sources of help.
The Overdose Bereavement Booklet, developed by service users in the National Forum on Drug-related Deaths and the Scottish Network for Families Affected by Drugs (SNFAD), will be distributed across the country, to GPs, health service premises, community centres, libraries and to the police.
Mr Ewing said:
"This year was a significant one for our collective efforts to tackle the scourge of drug misuse, with the launch of the first national drugs strategy since devolution. The next year is equally, if not more important as we work with local partners to deliver the strategy.
"The strategy, unanimously endorsed by Parliament, places a clear focus on recovery, and supporting drug users to rebuild their lives and get off drugs.
"At the same time, we owe it to those whose lives have been lost to drugs, to learn lessons where we can and also ensure that their loved ones are supported in bereavement.
"Sadly a great number of people die every year in Scotland through taking drugs - over 450 in 2007. This is scandalous. It's far too high and we believe that many are preventable.
"Following successful local pilots in Lanarkshire, Ayrshire & Arran and Dumfries & Galloway, we are rolling out a national database from January 1.
"Comprehensive information about every life lost to drugs in Scotland will be gathered on the national drug-deaths database - allowing us to look much closer at the circumstances surrounding each one rather than simply counting numbers.
"This detailed information will be studied to look at emerging patterns or trends and to put in place interventions to seek to prevent future fatalities.
"Today I am also launching a booklet which provides advice for those who have lost loved-ones to a suspected overdose.
"While a booklet on its own won't bring lives back, the extensive information it contains should assist people who will be feeling a range of emotions and seeking sources of support. It is particularly valuable because it has been drawn up by those with direct experience of such tragedies."
A spokeswoman for the National Forum service user group, who designed the booklet, added:
"The service users who were involved in making this booklet had all been in the situation of losing a loved one and knew the importance of a booklet like this with all the information you need.
"I was very grateful to be asked to be involved in the making of this booklet as there was very little information out there for family's and friends who had lost a loved one to a drug related death."
SNFAD chair Eleanor Robertson welcomed the new bereavement guide, saying:
"There can be no more devastating circumstance for a family than the loss of a loved one to drugs. Any support that can be given in these circumstances is vital.
"The production of the Overdose Bereavement Booklet is a welcome addition to existing support arrangements.
"The Scottish Network for Families Affected by Drugs is pleased to have been involved in the production and dissemination of the booklet and will continue to support families and family support groups across Scotland in as many ways as possible."
The first annual report of the National Forum on Drug-related Deaths, published in December 2007, included a recommendation that a new system for collecting data on drug-related deaths should be set up. Since then local pilots have been run in Lanarkshire, Ayrshire & Arran and in Dumfries & Galloway.
The national database will be hosted by ISD, with information collected locally by Alcohol & Drug Action Teams (ADATs) or other nominated individuals. Personal details gathered about the drug user will include information on: their drug taking history; where they were living and who with (including children); whether they were known to services or were on waiting lists; involvement with the criminal justice system; what drugs were found at the scene and in the their toxicology; and whether they were taking methadone or other drugs and whether the drugs were prescribed to them or not.
ISD will analyse the data on a regular basis to give a national picture and local ADATs will be able to receive reports to help them identify any trends or patterns in their area.
Once the database is well-established, it will be cross-referenced with other ISD data sources such as those for hospital discharges, psychiatric discharges and the Scottish Drug Misuse Database - providing a unique opportunity to examine all hospital, psychiatric and treatment incidents prior to death.