PCC welcomes call to boost availability of life-saving drug to tackle opioid addiction

Police and Crime Commissioner Joy Allen has welcomed a new national report calling for a boost in the availability of a life-saving treatment to reduce opioid dependency.

The County Durham and Darlington PCC has been campaigning for further investment into an Opioid Substitution Treatment (OST)called Buvidal - or Long-Acting Injectable Buprenorphine (LAIB) - to improve recovery rates and to reduce addiction-fuelled crime in line with commitments in her Police, Crime and Justice Plan.

As part of its review ‘Tackling Drugs in Prisons’, the House of Commons’ Justice Committee has now recommended that the Ministry of Justice (MoJ), Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) and local authorities work together to address commissioning disparities to ensure prisoners across all areas of England and Wales are able to access Buvidal for the length of their treatment upon release into the community.

The PCC, who is Joint National Lead for Addictions and Substance Misuse on behalf of the Association of Police and Crime Commissioners (APCC), has previously highlighted the stark difference in the percentage of people receiving Opioid Substitution Treatment in England who are benefiting from Buvidal which stands at around 5% compared to 30% in Scotland and 45% in Wales.

In its recent report, the Justice Committee said Buvidal, administered once a month via injection, does not have the same psychoactive effect as methadone.

Drawing on the conclusions of the Chief Inspector of Prisons and Dame Carol Black, the report said Buvidal or long-acting buprenorphine had been found to be beneficial due to prisoners not having to queue each day for treatment which meant they could attend activities that clash with medication times.

Other benefits cited included reduced supervision requirements for consumption, less clinical time and an elimination of the risk of the medication being diverted or smuggled for illicit use within the prison environment.  

The report underlined Dame Carol Black’s previous recommendation that prisoners should have an adequate supply of long-acting buprenorphine which could be started in prison. However, this was currently not possible for all prisoners because of commissioning disparity across local authorities.

Welcoming the report, Police and Crime Commissioner Joy Allen said: “The Justice Committee’s findings reaffirm what I have been saying for some time – that Buvidal can have a hugely transformative impact on those recovering from opioid addiction and should be more widely available.

“There is growing evidence that this treatment can also significantly reduce health costs and lower policing demand,critically protecting the scope and reach of public funds.

“I strongly agree with the Committee’s view that Buvidal should be more widely available to prisoners, post-release,and indeed all those in receipt of OST in the recovery community to save more lives and to make our communities safer, stronger and more resilient to drug crime. People should not be faced with a postcode lottery in treatment options that could hold back their recovery success and plunge our public services and communities into deeper crisis. Clearly, urgent national investment is needed.”

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