National report highlights progress and next steps for MAT Standards
First published on 07 July 2026
- Drugs
Public Health Scotland (PHS) has today published the Medication Assisted Treatment (MAT) Standards Implementation Benchmarking Report 2025–26.
This report marks the end of the national mission for drug deaths and brings together progress across the five-year MAT programme. It assesses implementation of the 10 MAT standards across all 30 Alcohol and Drug Partnerships (ADPs) in Scotland, using process, numerical and experiential evidence.
The findings show clear progress in embedding the MAT standards, particularly in improving access to treatment (Standard 1), increasing choice (Standard 2), strengthening outreach (Standard 3) and supporting retention in services (Standard 5). In 2025–26, 23 ADPs were assessed as green or blue for each of these MAT standards, indicating sustained delivery of key elements of treatment.
The report also highlights progress in more complex areas of delivery, including psychological support, advocacy and mental health support. It identifies ongoing challenges linked to workforce capacity, wider system collaboration, short-term funding, remote and rural delivery, and an increasingly complex polydrug landscape.
This year’s report reflects updated assessment criteria introduced in October 2025. As a result, findings for 2025–26 are not directly comparable with previous years.
Published as an 'official statistics in development release', the report is accompanied by an online dashboard providing further specific details on results, methods and scoring.
PHS will continue to work with local and national partners around data collection and analysis to facilitate insights and shared learning to inform and sustain service improvements. Such ongoing support will also be critical to ensure that specialist services are able to respond effectively to the changing nature of substance use and related harms.
John Mooney, Consultant in Public Health and Public Health Lead for the MAT Standards Implementation Support Team, said:
“This report highlights the substantial progress made in implementing the MAT standards across Scotland over the past five years. Many of the core elements of the standards are now well established. At the same time, it underlines the ongoing challenges where effective delivery depends on strong partnership working across services and sectors.
“As we move into the next phase, maintaining momentum will be key. There is an opportunity for local partnerships to build on what has been achieved, with a continued focus on quality, equity and meeting the needs of people experiencing harm.”
Find out more about the MAT Standards in Scotland
View the National benchmarking report on the implementation of the MAT Standards: Scotland 2025/26 [LINK]
PHS has also published the findings from two studies in the National Mission evaluation series. Those two studies, one by Glasgow Caledonian University and one by PHS, looked at whether the National Mission provided value for money: whether National Mission funding was allocated to effective and cost-effective treatment and support. View the accompanying MAT Standards Implementation dashboard read them here:
And here: