---

Methadone

Answer

Patients are told that methadone and other prescribed drugs must be kept out of reach of children, and it is required that all medicines be provided in child resistant containers.The Department published ““Drug Misuse and Dependence—Guidelines on Clinical Management (1999)””, which gives advice and assists general practitioners (GPs) and specialist drug treatment workers in giving appropriate substitute prescribing advice to patients.The guidelines¹ advise that methadone dose consumption should usually be supervised by either the patient's GP, a nurse or community pharmacist for the first three months of prescribing. In the rare event that such initial doses are to be taken unsupervised, the dose should be set to minimise the risk of unsolicited use and methadone diversion.Pharmacists are provided with training packs provided by the centre for pharmacy post-graduate education, ““Opiate treatment: supporting pharmacists for improved patient care”” which pharmacists are recommended to complete if taking part in the enhanced service to provide supervised consumption. This specifically covers the risks to children and opiate naive individuals of overdose.Best practice guidance² to pharmaceutical services for drug users was published in February 2006 to help ensure the provision of verbal and written information on the safe storage of controlled drugs. Additionally, guidance for administration of medicine within pharmacies, which includes methadone, ““The NHS community pharmacy contractual framework enhance service—supervised administration (consumption of prescribed medicines)””, was published in September 2005."¹ Drug Misuse and Dependence—Guidelines on Clinical Management, 1999.""² Best practice guidance for commissioners and providers of pharmaceutical services for drug users, February 2006 (Royal Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain, national treatment agency for substance misuse, pharmaceutical services negotiating committee, PharMag, NHS)."

Secondary information

Type

Written question

Reference

58378; 444 c965-6W;444 c965-6W

Session

2005-06

Subjects

Methadone

Link

View this Written question on www.publications.parliament.uk