The term Medication Assisted Treatment (MAT) is used to refer to the use of medication, such as opioids, together with any psychological and social support, in the treatment and care of individuals who experience problems with their drug use.

The ten MAT Standards, developed through the work of the Drug Death Task Force's MAT Sub-group, are a key part of the response to Scotland's drug-related deaths public health emergency. They represent the basis for a transformational change of the experiences of people engaged with MAT services in Scotland.

This event shared learning from the initial improvement work in delivering Standards 1-5 that deal with service access and engagement. The Standards 6-10 deal with system wide approaches and there will be a series of online workshops after this event to discuss all ten standards.

This event featured presentations from:

• People currently using MAT services in Scotland

• Joe FitzPatrick, Scottish Government Minister for Public Health, Sport and Wellbeing

• Dr Duncan McCormick, Consultant in Public Health NHS Lothian and Chair of the MAT sub group of the DDTF

• Elinor Dickie, MAT Programme Lead, Public Health Scotland

• Tracey Clusker, Drug Death Taskforce MAT Clinical Lead

• Dr Saket Priyadarshi, Associate Medical Director and Senior Medical Officer, Glasgow Alcohol and Drug Recovery Services

• Kate Ainslie, Community Addictions Nurse, Borders Addiction Service

• Dr Mike Kehoe, Clinical Director Addictions, NHS Lothian

The event was chaired by David Liddell, CEO, Scottish Drugs Forum

We invite stakeholders in Scotland to join one of the planned workshops to discuss Standards 1 - 5 and their implementation.

If you are a clinician, please join one of our clinician-focused workshops by visiting https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/129601...

All other stakeholders can sign up to a workshop by visiting - https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/129594...

In addition, as part of the consultation on the ten MAT Standards there is an online survey. To take part in the online survey please visit - https://surveys.publichealthscotland.....

This event was hosted by Scottish Drugs Forum, The MAT Subgroup of the Drug Deaths Task Force and Public Health Scotland.