Services Database Pharmacy Needle Exchange

Service ID

44030

Description

Aims and objectives of the service:

  1. To assist the service-users to remain healthy until they are ready and willing to cease injecting and ultimately achieve a drug-free life with appropriate support;
  2. To protect health and reduce the rate of blood-borne infections and drug-related deaths among service-users:
    1. By reducing the rate of sharing and other high-risk injecting behaviours;
    2. By providing sterile injecting equipment and other support;
    3. By promoting safer injecting practices;
    4. By providing and reinforcing harm-reduction messages including safe sex advice and advice on overdose prevention (e.g. risks of poly-drug use and alcohol use);
  3. To improve the health of local communities by preventing the spread of blood-borne infections by ensuring the safe disposal of used injecting equipment;
  4. To help service-users access treatment centres and health and social care professionals where appropriate;
  5. To aim to maximise the access and retention of all injectors, especially the highly- socially-excluded; and
  6. To help service-users access other health and social care and to act as a gateway to other services (e.g. key working, prescribing, hepatitis B immunisation, hepatitis and HIV screening, primary care services etc).

Location of service

Walsall LPC

Commissioner

Local Authority (LA)

Method of commissioning

Local Authority contract

Source of funding

Local Authority (LA)

Service type

Needle & syringe programme

Other organisations involved

Addaction Pharmacy

Dates

Start date:
End date:

Status

Ongoing

Training

The pharmacist must:

  • participate in 1:1 training provided by Addaction Pharmacy support worker in order to begin to provide the service; or
  • attend a local authority organised training event; and
  • complete the CPPE Substance Use and Misuse open learning programme.

Comments