The implementation of Medication-Assisted Treatment (MAT) standards in Scotland has seen significant progress over recent years. This article provides a detailed examination of the 2024 National Benchmarking Report on the implementation of MAT standards across Scotland’s 29 Alcohol and Drug Partnership (ADP) areas, highlighting key statistics and findings.

RAGB Assessment

The report utilises a RAGB (red, amber, green, blue) assessment system to illustrate progress against each of the MAT standards. This composite illustration helps in understanding the extent of implementation and identifying areas requiring improvement.

Progress on MAT Standards 1-5

For MAT standards 1-5:

• Full Implementation: 90% of ADP areas have been assessed as fully implemented (RAGB green) as of April 2024.
• Yearly Improvement: This marks a substantial increase from 66% in 2023 and 17% in 2022.

Progress on MAT Standards 6-10

For MAT standards 6-10:

• Provisional Full Implementation: 91% of ADP areas were assessed as RAGB provisional green, indicating full implementation is not confirmed in all streams.
• Yearly Improvement: In 2023, 45% were amber (evidence of partial implementation), and 12% had no evidence of implementation (RAGB red).

Sustained Implementation and Ongoing Monitoring

The RAGB score blue, which indicates evidence of sustained implementation and ongoing monitoring, was allocated to:

• MAT 4: Two ADPs received this score.
• MAT 3: One ADP received this score.

While the report does not directly address outcomes, it recommends actions to fill gaps in implementation, ensuring that MAT standards continue to improve across all ADP areas.

Source: Public Health Scotland