Public Health England (PHE) has issued new COVID-19-related guidance for commissioners and providers of services for people who use drugs or alcohol.
People who misuse or are dependent on drugs and alcohol may be at increased risk of becoming infected, and infecting others, with COVID-19. They may also be more vulnerable to the impact of infection with the virus, due to underlying conditions.
The key points include:
- Drug and alcohol services do not need to close at the current time and are important to keep operating as they protect vulnerable people who are at greater risk from coronavirus (COVID-19) and help reduce the burden on other health care services.
- Services should keep face-to-face contacts between staff and service users to a minimum and minimise the use of biological drug testing and breathalysers, where safe to do so.
- Follow up-to-date guidance for infection prevention and control, including handwashing, surface cleaning, isolating people and sending staff home.
- Arrangements for prescribing and dispensing of medicines used in drug and alcohol treatment will need to be changed to take account of service and pharmacy closures, staff unavailability and patients having to maintain social distance or self-isolate, including the most vulnerable being shielded and the need to reduce the spread of COVID-19.
- Measures to reduce drug and alcohol-related harm such as needle and syringe programmes, take-home naloxone, thiamine, advice on gradual reduction of alcohol consumption and e-cigarettes should all be increased where possible.
- Drug and alcohol treatment staff are included in the government’s definition of key workers whose children can - if they cannot be kept safe at home - continue to attend school.
- Usual expectations on services for local monitoring and reporting, contract and performance management and contract re-tendering can all be scaled back to enable services to focus on delivery.
The full guidelines can be accessed here.
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