Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask Her Majesty's Government, in the light of the report Our Invisible Addicts by the Royal College of Psychiatrists and the reported rise in the rates of drug related deaths, whether they plan to carry out a national review of the relationship between service users over 40 participating in structured addiction treatment and those users’ engagement with primary, community and adult social care services.

There are no plans to carry out a review into this specific issue. Public Health England (PHE) has already led an inquiry into the rises in drug-related deaths. The inquiry report Understanding and preventing drug-related deaths: The report of a national expert working group to investigate drug-related death in England was published on 9 September 2016 and a copy is attached.

PHE continues to support local authorities in delivering tailored, accessible and effective services where people stand the best chance of recovery.

In 2017, PHE published updated clinical guidelines for clinicians treating people with drug use problems, which contains a section addressing the importance of preventing and treating drug use problems in older people. The guidelines were developed by an expert group and are kept under regular review. A copy of the Drug Misuse and dependence: UK guidelines on clinical management is attached.