Naloxone legal changes (UK)

Written by Kirstie Douse on 26 August 2015. Posted in Equipment

Last month the Human Medicines (Amendment) (No. 3) Regulations 2015 were laid before Parliament, amending the 2012 Regulations which restrict the supply etc. of medicines, and we got the first glimpse of the changes that are to be introduced from 1st October. The main change is that: "Persons employed or engaged in the provision of drug treatment services", drugs workers (though a variety of different names apply to this role these days) to you and me, will be added to the list of exempted professionals who can supply Naloxone without falling foul of the restrictions.

Ten reasons to distribute ‘take home naloxone'

Written by Nigel Brunsdon on 04 June 2015. Posted in Equipment

Naloxone is the opiate antagonist that can prevent overdose. In the US it's use is increasing and within the UK there are national programmes in Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland to distribute it, but not in England, in England it's left up to local areas to decide if they should distribute it. So, I thought it was time for a top 'ten reasons to distribute take home naloxone' article.

Legal Foil at Last

Written by Nigel Brunsdon on 13 August 2014. Posted in Equipment

From the 5th of September foil is going to be legal to distribute from needle programmes in the UK. Another important piece of harm reduction kit that we can now have in our 'toolbox' of interventions and engagement. But changes like this still take far too long to happen.

Discourage the Use of 2ml barrels

Written by Nigel Brunsdon on 13 February 2012. Posted in Equipment

I'm sure its a common experience of needle programme workers around the UK (even around the world), people asking for 2ml barrels when they are planning to groin inject. But a 2ml isn't the best equipment for this and it's a behaviour that we as workers or peer educators need to challenge.

How syringe type effects HIV risk

Written by Jamie Bridge on 21 July 2010. Posted in Equipment

New research being presented this week at the International AIDS Conference in Vienna has made a strong link between different types of syringe and levels of HIV transmission through sharing.

Not All Syringes Are The Same

Written by Nigel Brunsdon on 21 February 2010. Posted in Equipment

As you’ll know if you’ve spent any time either working in a needle programme or injecting there are many different kinds of needle available.

The assumption is normally that the needle you’ve used in the past is always the best one for the job and most NSP workers will just go along with this, but at the end of the day not all needles are equal. This article will compare some of the main equipment you can get.

Tips For Supplying Foil

Written by Nigel Brunsdon on 08 September 2014. Posted in Equipment

So foil is now legal in the UK (since September 5^th), needle programmes across the country are now (hopefully) stocking it and offering it as a possible tool for change or early engagement route for people who smoke rather than inject their drug of choice. So here's a bit of advice for those workers giving it out.

Low Deadspace Needles

Written by Nigel Brunsdon on 17 February 2013. Posted in Equipment

Although there has been research around the benefits of Low Dead Space (LDS) injecting equipment for a number of years there has been an increasing interest in it recently. Even the New York Times has featured articles on the subject. So it's clear that now is the ideal time for some innovation in the development of injecting kit.

What Works

Written by Nigel Brunsdon on 25 May 2011. Posted in Equipment

One of the questions I'm often asked when delivering training to drugs workers is "What are all the different needles for, and which is the best one to use". Although in a perfect world there would be a clear answer this is rarely the case as each person and each injecting site is unique, the best answer I normally manage is to give loose guidlines.

Different Kind of Sharps Bin

Written by Nigel Brunsdon on 10 July 2010. Posted in Equipment

It's not often you get some totally new equipment in a needle programme and the last thing I expected people to be innovative with was a sharps bin. The new bin from Exchange Supplies is something which could change whole aspects of the way we work with used injecting equipment, not to mention the fact it is (in my opinion at least) a better bin from the injectors point of view.