2025-06-13 –, BS 3.16 - 60 cap.
Background:
The UK government stated that at least 321 deaths involved nitazenes to September 2024. These synthetic opioids have contaminated heroin and other drugs. In July 2023 a National Patient Safety Alert was issued after a spike in fatal overdoses occurred in Birmingham, involving nitazenes.
Objectives:
A group of individuals was established from 5 organisations. We wanted to ensure that safety messaging on nitazenes, given by all organisations, was consistent. We aimed to reduce the risk of mixed-messaging.
Methods:
‘Stayin’ Alive’ Plans were developed and disseminated across the services. These focused on the person at risk having more relevant insight into the likely scenario of an overdose than any drugs worker. Therefore, only they could devise a plan which would mitigate their risk. This changed the conversation from ‘Don’t do this, do that’ to ‘What’s your plan to manage the risk?’ Cards were provided, plans recorded and held by the owner of that plan.
Results:
Keyworkers in the member organisations then engaged PWUD to make Stayin’ Alive Plans. This raised the awareness of overdose among all those who were engaged. Around 25,000 individuals across all providers completed plans. It is however more difficult to demonstrate conclusively that these plans have reduced overdoses involving nitazenes.
Implications:
The task of responding to nitazenes provided an impetus to collaborate. When collective wisdom and ideas are shared, this may lead to novel approaches to mitigate risk. Collaboration is likely to remain important in the coming years as the drugs market becomes ever more risky.
Chris Rintoul - Cranstoun
Deb Hussey - Turning Point
Jon Findlay - Waythrough
Maddie O'Hare - HIT
Peter Furlong - Change, Grow, Live
Chris Rintoul has 30 years’ experience in working with people who use drugs and with people who experience homelessness, 25+ of those years as a social worker. He has a particular interest and expertise in harm reduction approaches, with 20+ years’ experience in the delivery of harm reduction training to staff working in a wide range of sectors/orgs whose work brings them into contact with substance users. Chris has set up harm reduction services such as outreach and specialist accommodation services. With Cranstoun, Chris has led on the development of it’s naloxone training, injecting equipment provision and response to novel synthetic opioids. He has an interest in the role technology can play in reducing harm, developing the 1st interactive overdose response app in 2012 and now leading on a wearable overdose detection device and alert system, currently in live trial. Along with peers in similar roles within other UK treatment providers, he developed Stayin’ Alive resources in response to the nitazenes threat which emerged in 2023. Chris has written a range of practical resources for frontline workers and people who use substances on nutrition, benzodiazepines, pregabalin, opioids, naloxone, polydrug use and medications management. He has been involved in writing a number of articles:
• Naloxone report (publishing.service.gov.uk) ACMD 2022
• Groin Injecting in Northern Ireland: Views of the Experts by Experience — Queen's University Belfast (qub.ac.uk) QUB 2021
• A rapid assessment of take-home naloxone provision during COVID-19 in Europe - ScienceDirect IJDP 2022
• Reducing Opioid Related Deaths for individuals who are at high risk of death from overdose: A co production study with people housed within prison and hostel accommodation - by Campbell, Anne; Millen, Sharon; Guo, Li; Jordan, Uisce; Taylor Beswick, Amanda; Rintoul, Chris; Diamond, Aisling.
Jon Findlay is the National Harm Reduction Lead for Waythrough. He has worked in and around services for people who use drugs for 24 years.
Jon started out in the prison service at HMP Manchester in the late ‘90s. He went on to manage one of the first versions of criminal justice drug treatment offers that were the precursor to the Drug Treatment and Testing Orders and subsequent Drug Requirement Orders.
Within Waythrough, Jon is now responsible for overseeing the national charity’s harm reduction services. These include needle syringe provision, clinical alerts, naloxone, safe inhalation, chemsex, emerging drug trends, and image performance enhancing drugs hormone clinics.
“For me harm reduction is an unconditional act of kindness and love not based on any requirement of compliant behaviour. Its about making today better.”