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Abstract
A needs assessment of the Isle of Wight's (UK) drug problems was carried out in 1996. Prospects for, and the validity of, extending shared care arrangements were elicited from professionals and drug users during semi-structured interviews. In addition to this, a short questionnaire was devised and sent to all 77 of the island's general practitioners (GPs), asking their opinions about and attitudes to shared care, to which 49 (64%) responded. While both professionals and drug users, on the whole, felt that shared care arrangements were preferable, neither group thought them realistic. Only three GPs said that they were presently prepared to prescribe for drug users, but four more said that they would do so with more support and a further 11 qualified their refusal in various ways. Thus 18 doctors might be prepared to prescribe, and the prospects for shared care appear better than had originally seemed the case. Essential ingredients for taking forward a shared care strategy have therefore been worked out.