Activities per year
Abstract
Background: The UK is currently experiencing a public health crisis of drug-related deaths. The government has rejected recommendations to open overdose prevention services, under the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971. To report on the operation and use of an unsanctioned overdose prevention service which operated in Glasgow city centre from September 2020 to May 2021.
Methods: Description of the service, with analysis of data collected on its use.
Results: The service operated for nine months without permission or funding from official sources. We report on the 894 injections supervised and recorded, and nine successful interventions with overdose events (seven opioid/two cocaine). Powder cocaine injection predominated either alone (60.6%) or with heroin (22.1%). Injection was mostly in the groin (68.0%) or arm (16.8%). More injections were recorded by males (70.1%).
Conclusion: It is possible to operate an overdose prevention service in the UK without it being shut down by the police. There is an urgent need and demand for these services in the UK to reduce harm, prevent and intervene during overdose, and provide vital psychosocial support for health and wellbeing in a highly marginalised population.
Methods: Description of the service, with analysis of data collected on its use.
Results: The service operated for nine months without permission or funding from official sources. We report on the 894 injections supervised and recorded, and nine successful interventions with overdose events (seven opioid/two cocaine). Powder cocaine injection predominated either alone (60.6%) or with heroin (22.1%). Injection was mostly in the groin (68.0%) or arm (16.8%). More injections were recorded by males (70.1%).
Conclusion: It is possible to operate an overdose prevention service in the UK without it being shut down by the police. There is an urgent need and demand for these services in the UK to reduce harm, prevent and intervene during overdose, and provide vital psychosocial support for health and wellbeing in a highly marginalised population.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Publisher | PsyArXiv Preprints |
| Number of pages | 10 |
| Publication status | Published - 10 Dec 2021 |
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Dive into the research topics of 'PREPRINT: The UK’s first (unsanctioned) overdose prevention site'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.Activities
- 1 Invited talk
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Hosted by Jeff Smith MP @Saving Lives – Piloting OPCs in the UK event - The UK's first overdose prevention centre: proof of concept evaluation
Shorter, G. (Invited speaker)
06 Jun 2022Activity: Talk or presentation types › Invited talk
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How to run an unsanctioned overdose prevention van; experiences from Glasgow 2020-2021
Krykant, P. & Shorter, G., 23 Nov 2022.Research output: Contribution to conference › Paper › peer-review
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The United Kingdom's first unsanctioned overdose prevention site; a proof-of-concept evaluation
Shorter, G. W., Harris, M., McAuley, A., Trayner, K. M. & Stevens, A., Jun 2022, In: International Journal of Drug Policy. 104, 5 p., 103670.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
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