Background
Depot buprnorphine in an opioid substitution therapy. Via the strategic allocation of Treatment and Recovery funds in England, Local Authorities are expected to adopt or enhance the provision of depot buprenorphine. Buvidal, a form of depot buprenorphine with market authorisation, is already being delivered in various settings across the country. This initiative aims to further integrate depot buprenorphine into service offerings, expanding its reach and potential impact on opioid substitution therapy for people in treatment for drug use.
Evaluation Questions
This evaluation will seek to answer the following questions:
- What are the challenges, barriers and facilitators to implementing and delivering depot buprenorphine treatment, and achieving treatment uptake in the target population?
- What are service users’ experiences of, and attitudes to, receiving depot buprenorphine treatment?
- What are the characteristics of service users who benefit most from depot buprenorphine treatment, and the characteristics of those who don’t?
- What is the impact that the new or increased provision of depot buprenorphine has had on service user outcomes?
- What, if any, unintended consequences have arisen as a result of introducing and/or increasing depot buprenorphine provision?
- What is the relative costs of providing depot buprenorphine compared to other opiate substitution therapy treatment options, if this is feasible to answer?