New guidance on naloxone in homelessness services
Following recent changes in the law around the availability of naloxone, the lifesaving antidote for heroin and other opioid overdoses, Homeless Link has produced new guidance to help integrate this vital intervention into services for the homeless.
The guidance has been produced in response to concerns around rising numbers of heroin-related deaths nationally – up by almost two-thirds in the past two years from 579 in 2012 to 952 last year. According to the Office of National Statistics, in Sefton there were 33 deaths related to drug misuse in 2012-2014.
The guidance is designed to provide the information needed to introduce naloxone into services and aims to promote good practice standards as part of a wider harm reduction approach.
You can help spread the word about the guidance and encourage good practice around naloxone, and help get local authorities and homeless organisations to adopt its use, if they haven’t done already.
Widening of Naloxone availability and good practice around its use will help to save lives. Here are some of the ways you can help spread the word and help get the guidance out:
- Notify your colleagues by email within your organisation – the simple link to share is homeless.org.uk/naloxone
- Put the guidance on the agenda at local strategic and practice forums, sharing information with colleagues at partner agencies
- Add a link to the guidance in your newsletter or on your website
- Use social media to spread the word, sharing with your networks using Facebook or Twitter. Here is a sample tweet you can use or adapt:
“New guidance on life saving naloxone from @homelesslink – could this work in your service? http://bit.ly/hl-naloxone#naloxone “
Homeless Link has also published a framework for managers in accommodation-based homelessness services, to implement good practice around using naloxone as part of a wider harm reduction approach. Go to http://www.homeless.org.uk/our-work/resources/naloxone-in-homelessness-services
