Engagement work on the standards began in 2019.

Work continued through 2020 and the pandemic.

Following review and feedback from local partners and stakeholders, the standards were published in May 2021 by the Scottish Government, on behalf of the Drugs Death Taskforce in collaboration with Public Health Scotland.

The standards were developed in collaboration with a broad range of stakeholders including:

• people with lived and living experience
• families
• advocacy and mental health services
• local authorities
• NHS
• the third sector

Public Health Scotland’s Role in MAT

The MAT implementation programme is a multidisciplinary initiative hosted by Public Health Scotland (PHS) on behalf of the Scottish Government.

This includes representation from the PHS Drugs team and MAT Implementation Support Team (MIST), as well as a range of other partners.

The MIST team was set up to:

• directly support implementation across the country
• work with local areas to develop and improve services

The PHS Drugs Team focus on support to sustain learning and mainstream the standards across the system of care.