Public Health England launches opioid treatment quality improvement programme

Public Health England (PHE) has launched an opioid treatment quality improvement programme where it will work with drug treatment providers and service users to develop tools to improve opioid substitution treatment.

This programme will support services to help ensure recovery from drug dependency is sustained through helping people understand how their opioid substitution treatment (OST) works and as such improving compliance and persistence with the treatment. In particular, the programme will focus on psychosocial interventions to support changes in behaviour.

One of the issues that is being looked at is that of continued drug use, particularly heroin, while receiving treatment. Drug treatment monitoring data (NDTMS) and PHE’s drugs evidence review both found that people who continue to use illegal substances while on OST are less likely to fully benefit from treatment and to reduce the wider harms caused by their drug use.

As reported on the government’s website even reducing illegal drug use can be beneficial to patients on OST but pushing too hard for a total block on any other form of drug use could lead some patients to leave treatment completely or prevent them seeking the help in the first instance. The programme will look at developing resources to support services for this so that healthcare providers can get it right.

Additionally, there will be development in the services for the wider aspects of a patient’s life such as employment, living arrangements, family relationships, trauma and abuse.