Services Database Needle Exchange Service (Warwickshire)
Service ID
108459
Description
3 Overview & Service Principles
3.1. Needle and Syringe Programmes (NSP) supply needles, syringes and other equipment used to prepare and take illicit drugs. They reduce the transmission of blood-borne viruses (BBVs) including hepatitis B and C, and other infections caused by sharing injecting equipment. They aim to reduce the harm caused by injecting drugs through providing information and advice and acting as a gateway to other services, including drug treatment centres.
3.2 The NSP may be the only contact some people have with a Healthcare Professional, for example those who inject Image and Performance Enhancing drugs (IPEDs). Needle and Syringe Programmes in England are based across a range of services, with pharmacy making up the majority of the sites.
3.3 The provision of needle exchange in pharmacies provides the benefits of increasing the availability of needle exchange packs across a wide geographical area. This provides more flexibility of provision of services not only by area but by opening hours as well.
Location of service
Arden LPC
Commissioner
Local Authority (LA)
Method of commissioning
Source of funding
Service type
Needle & syringe programme
Other organisations involved
Dates
Start date:
End date:
Status
Ongoing
Training
13 Training
13.1 All pharmacists will be required to complete the CPPE Declaration of Competence for Needle and Syringe Programme Service, Substance use and misuse and Substance use and misuse: Anabolic steroids.
13.2 The declaration will need to be shared with PharmOutcomes. There will be a three-month grace period from the start of the service; after this if not completed you will not be able to access the services.
13.3 The local Change Grow Live service will provide training to commissioned pharmacies on appropriate topics as part of their annual meeting, alongside sharing information on incidents, resolving queries, and exploring ideas for improvements to the service. Attendance at the annual meeting is recommended as part of service delivery. The Contractor/Pharmacist attending the training must cascade any changes to service delivery to all pharmacy staff involved in delivering NSP.
13.4 Refresher training to be undertaken in line with the requirement to update DoC every 2 years.
13.5 The NSP supplier will provide product-specific training and regular training updates, coordinated by the National Harm Reduction Lead. This training will be provided in on-demand recorded or online formats.
