Medication Assisted Treatment (MAT) refers to the use of medication alongside psychological and social support in the treatment of people who are experiencing issues with their drug use.

The MAT standards are new standards for drug treatment in Scotland.

The standards are aimed at:

• services and organisations that support people who use drugs
• people who use drugs themselves

The MAT standards aim to reduce drug related harms and risk of death.

It does this by enabling safe, accessible and high-quality treatment and support nationally.

The standards:

• aim to directly impact the current drug-related deaths crisis being experienced in Scotland
• provide a framework to ensure treatment delivery that is safe, person centred and effective

A key point of the standards is to encourage retention in services.

People are supported to engage with treatment for as long as they need it.

Learn more about the MAT standards (external website).