LESSONS have been learned and changes made in the wake of the Jamie Edmondson tragedy, according to health experts.

Doctors willing to prescribe methadone three years ago took on huge caseloads without adequate support, but they are now given more help, said health boss Dr Alistair Murdoch.

Dr Murdoch, a practising GP and the chairman of Blackburn Primary Care Group, said very little training was available at the time 16-year-old Jamie died of an overdose after Dr Francis Apaloo prescribed him methadone over the telephone.

Dr Apaloo, of the Montague Health Centre, was found guilty of serious professional misconduct and suspended from practising for three months by the General Medical Council this week.

Jamie's mother, Gillian, said after the hearing that more training for doctors was essential.

Dr Murdoch said: "At that time, the people who were prescribing were capable, but there was not the same level of support. For those who did prescribe it was quite difficult to get help, especially out of hours."

Nigel Robinson, chief officer of the Community Health Council, said he had sympathy with doctors who took on the burden of prescribing methadone at that time.

He said: "Things have improved now and support workers from the drugs services go into doctors' surgeries to help GPs deal with drug addicts, but that wasn't the case at the time of this incident.

"At that time, there was also only a small number of doctors willing to prescribe methadone, so they had to deal with large numbers of addicts. It's more spread out now." Dr Murdoch said the most subjects were covered in general medical training but doctors could choose to study some subjects, such as methadone prescribing, in detail while practising.

He said: "Every doctor has to make up their own mind about whether they are safe to prescribe any drug. Each doctor is trained to know their own limits and to know when to ask for help." But three years ago, few training courses in drugs awareness were available, he said.

Today, more courses are on offer and the first formal training course, leading to a diploma on methadone prescribing, is beginning in London next month. Blackburn Primary Care Group are sponsoring a local GP to take the course at the Royal College of General Practitioners.

Mr Robinson said he could see the improvements because he now encountered fewer problems with drug addicts in his work with the health watchdog team.