Opioid Substitution Therapy (OST) implicated deaths and prescribing: evidence review

This paper summarises current knowledge of trends around methadone and buprenorphine related deaths and changes to prescribing practice in Scotland.


Appendix 1. DRDs and Methadone-implicated death by local authority and NHS Health Board, 2020.

Table. 2. DRDs by council area, 2020
Council area All DRDs Methadone-implicated %
Aberdeen City 56 35 62.5
Aberdeenshire 33 13 39.4
Angus 14 6 42.9
Argyll & Bute 16 7 43.8
City of Edinburgh 92 51 55.4
Clackmannanshire 9 3 33.3
Dumfries & Galloway 22 15 68.2
Dundee City 57 30 52.6
East Ayrshire 36 19 52.8
East Dunbartonshire 14 6 42.9
East Lothian 14 7 50.0
East Renfrewshire 10 5 50.0
Falkirk 37 19 51.4
Fife 65 38 58.5
Glasgow City 291 177 60.8
Highland 33 12 36.4
Inverclyde 33 16 48.5
Midlothian 21 10 47.6
Moray 10 6 60.0
Na h-Eileanan Siar 3 0 0.0
North Ayrshire 39 21 53.8
North Lanarkshire 94 40 42.6
Orkney Islands 3 0 0.0
Perth & Kinross 34 25 73.5
Renfrewshire 67 27 40.3
Scottish Borders 18 7 38.9
Shetland Islands 4 1 25.0
South Ayrshire 31 14 45.2
South Lanarkshire 91 53 58.2
Stirling 31 18 58.1
West Dunbartonshire 29 17 58.6
West Lothian 32 10 31.3
Scotland 1,339 708 52.9
Table 3. DRDs by NHS Health Board, 2020
NHS Health Board All DRDs Methadone-implicated %
Ayrshire & Arran 106 54 50.9
Borders 18 7 38.9
Dumfries & Galloway 22 15 68.2
Fife 65 38 58.5
Forth Valley 77 40 51.9
Grampian 99 54 54.5
Greater Glasgow & Clyde 444 248 55.9
Highland 49 19 38.8
Lanarkshire 185 93 50.3
Lothian 159 78 49.1
Orkney 3 0 0.0
Shetland 4 1 25.0
Tayside 105 61 58.1
Western Isles 3 0 0.0
Scotland 1,339 708 52.9

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