Hostname: page-component-7c8c6479df-r7xzm Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-03-27T16:52:51.054Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Six years' experience of sharing the care of Edinburgh's drug users

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2018

Judy Greenwood*
Affiliation:
Community Drug Problem Service, Royal Edinburgh Hospital, Edinburgh EH10 5HF
Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Core share and HTML view are not available for this content. However, as you have access to this content, a full PDF is available via the ‘Save PDF’ action button.

Six yean ago, Edinburgh's community drug problem service established a model of shared care between drug specialists and general practitioners who were encouraged to prescribe oral methadone and other drug substitutes in an attempt to reduce drug injecting and the spread of HIV in a city with a high seroprevalence rate. Of Edinburgh's GPs, 70% now prescribe for around 1200 drug users who have altered their pattern of drug taking, with a marked shift away from injecting drug use, and towards oral pharmaceutical drugs. HIV rates among new referrals to the service have fallen from 21% to 8%.

Type
Original Papers
Creative Commons
Creative Common License - CCCreative Common License - BY
This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC-BY) license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Copyright
Copyright © Royal College of Psychiatrists, 1996

References

Bury, J. (1994) HIV Infection and Drug Misuse in Lothian General Practice. Report on Epidemiological Questionnaire 1993. Lothian Health Authority.Google Scholar
Department of Health (1991) Drug Misuse and Dependence: Guidelines on Clinical Management London: HMSO.Google Scholar
Department of Health and Social Security (1988) AIDS and Drug Misuse, Part I. Report by the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs. London: HMSO.Google Scholar
Department of Health and Social Security (1993) AIDS and Drug Misuse Update. Report by the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs. London: HMSO.Google Scholar
Greenwood, J. (1990) Creating a new drug service in Edinburgh. British Medical Journal 300, 587589.Google Scholar
Greenwood, J. (1992) Persuading general practitioners to prescribe – good husbandry or a recipe for chaos? British Journal of Addiction, 87, 567575.Google Scholar
Griffin, S., Peters, A. & Reid, M. (1993) Drug misusers in Lothian: changes in injecting habits 1988–90. British Medical Journal 306, 693.Google Scholar
Haw, S. (1993) Pharmaceutical Drugs and Illicit Drug Use in Lothian Region. Edinburgh: Centre of HIV/AIDS and Drug Studies.Google Scholar
Independent (1993) Editorial 14 May 1993.Google Scholar
National Health Service in Scotland (1992) Scottish Drug Misuse Database Bulletin. Information and Statistics Division, National Health Service in Scotland, Edinburgh.Google Scholar
Shannon, H. (1992) Lothian Drug Misuse Database: general report Edinburgh.Google Scholar
Submit a response

eLetters

No eLetters have been published for this article.