P.37 Addiction services

• 9,312 patients received Opioid Substitute Treatment (excluding prisons) at the end of the reporting period which includes 3,936 patients being treated by 339 GPs in the community.
• Opioid Substitute Treatment was dispensed by 624 pharmacies catering for 6,355 patients at the end of the reporting period.
• At the end of the reporting period there were 71 HSE clinics providing Opioid Substitute Treatment and an additional 10 clinics were provided in the prison service. 83 new patients commenced Opioid Substitute Treatment during the reporting period (7 in General Practice, 55 in HSE clinics and 21 in the prison clinics). 

See also management report p.96 - Methadone treatment expenditure

P.42 Tobacco control

The re-developed QUIT.ie site went live on 23rd December. With the new site in place, the HSE QUIT Team now provide access and support for smokers across phone, text, social media and online channels and smokers who choose not to engage with the QUIT Team can avail of an enhanced self-help service by signing up to the QUIT plan.

The new website and service were launched at a photocall on 30th December in Dublin with Minister for Health, Dr. Leo Varadkar. Photos and press statements were carried in national and local newspapers over the following days and on national and local radio on the day. A full media plan, encompassing TV, radio and digital advertising that, coupled with a strong ‘why to quit’ message and equally strong ‘how to quit’ message driving to the new service, commenced subsequently. 100 front line staff received training in Brief Intervention Smoking Cessation (BISC) in the final month of 2014. The total number trained for the year was 1,303, 3.5% below the target figure of 1,350 staff. Challenges remain in securing release of staff in acute settings to participate in training.

An evaluation of BISC training has been completed. Preliminary findings show positive impact of the training on long term skills and change in practice in terms of asking service users about smoking and delivering BI. 9,309 smokers received intensive cessation support from a cessation counsellor to end of December 2014, compared to an expected activity target of 9,000 (+3.4%).

See also management report p.55– tobacco control - No. of smokers who received intensive cessation support from a cessation counsellor