Services Database Needle Exchange

Aims

The overall Service Objectives and Intended Health Outcomes of pharmacy NSP to drug users are:

a) To offer anonymous friendly, non-judgemental, confidential and user centred services.

b) To provide sterile injecting equipment to reduce the rate of sharing and other high risk injecting behaviours. Adequate coverage is essential to achieve this (see later).

c) In doing so, reduce the dangers associated with drug use including the transmission risks of HIV, hepatitis B&C, other blood-borne infections.

d) To help the service user to be healthy and reduce drug related health harms.

e) Assist the service users to remain healthy until they are ready, willing and able to cease injecting and/or access specialist services and ultimately achieve a drug free life.

f) To provide information on harm reduction advice and initiatives and promote safer injecting practices.

g) To facilitate access to relevant specialist and generalist primary care services.

h) To signpost people who inject drugs (PWID) to drug treatment services (for example, opioid substitution therapy).

i) To act as a gateway/signpost to other services (e.g. Hepatitis B immunisation, Hepatitis C & HIV screening).

j) Improve the health of local communities by preventing the spread of blood borne infections facilitate and encourage the safe disposal of used injecting equipment.

k) Maximise the access and retention of all injectors, especially the highly socially excluded, through flexible, low- threshold service delivery and targeted interventions, delivered in a non-judgmental and caring way.

Not known.