Appropriate policies and standard operating procedures for the provision of in-patient Opioid Substitution Treatment (OST) is paramount to patient safety when treating a person with an opioid dependency (prescribed or unprescribed).

In December 2016 the HSE launched a Clinical Guidelines for Opioid Substitution Treatment (OST) in conjunction with the College of Psychiatry of Ireland, the Irish College of General Practitioners and the Pharmaceutical Society of Ireland.

Following this publication, it became apparent there are specific in-patient aspects to the prescribing and dispensing of OST that would usefully be compiled for the hospital setting. his document provides links to relevant sections of the OST Guideline with ancillary information for the in-patient setting.