Partnership project leads to lives being saved in Nottingham
Colleagues at Nottinghamshire Healthcare were delighted to hear about how Nottinghamshire Police officers saved the life of a person who overdosed, following training they had received from the team at The Health Shop, run by Nottinghamshire Healthcare, alongside partners from Change Grow Live.
The Health Shop involves a small team that specialises in harm reduction and health promotion, and offers advice and support around substance use and sexual health. It was one of the original services which came together over 10 years ago to support the introduction of the life-saving medication naloxone in Nottingham city. Naloxone reverses overdoses from drugs like heroin, codeine and tramadol. Provision is free to anyone who needs it. This includes services, service users, carers and family members.
This is a brilliant piece of partnership working between Nottinghamshire police, Nottingham City and Nottinghamshire County Councils, Change Grow Live, the Nottingham Recovery Network and The Health Shop, all working together to save lives.
A diverse range of services have been trained and have naloxone on-site in case of emergency. These include hostels, day centres, refuges and support services. Health Shop colleagues also carry it as part of their outreach roles.
Training is free and can be delivered to suit the needs of the service. It lasts around an hour and covers the signs of opioid overdose, what causes overdose and how to use naloxone. People who carry naloxone do not need to have a medical background. It is safe and easy to use.
Amy Eagle, Care Group Director of Community Health and Specialist Services said:
We're really proud to be a part of this fantastic partnership project and see what a huge impact it is having. The team at The Health Shop are really passionate about making a difference to vulnerable people, and it's amazing to see that this work is saving lives.
There are two different types of naloxone available, a nasal spray and an injectable version. Both work very quickly and buy time until emergency help arrives.
Naloxone is available from the Nottingham Recovery Network and The Health Shop. Thanks to a new initiative by the team, it is also now available from over eight pharmacies in the city, with more hopefully coming on board soon.
The Health Shop also have a group of trained peer workers. These are people with lived/living experience. They go out into the community and find, engage and train people who may not be engaged in services to have access to naloxone. The team wear bright yellow hoodies so they are easily recognised. They go into different services and walk around the city doing what we call a 'city stomp', providing both versions of naloxone to anyone who needs it.
Lou Wilkins, Team Leader at the Health Shop said:
We were thrilled to hear that the training provided meant Nottinghamshire police officers were confident to use naloxone and ultimately save another life.
Drugs are changing on both a local and national level. The Health Shop are aware that synthetic opioids called 'nitazenes' are being found in heroin supplies but also in other drugs that people might buy online or use recreationally. Nitazenes are between 50-500 stronger than heroin and cause serious risk of overdose. The team are trying to get more naloxone out in the community and moving beyond the traditional services to raise awareness, working with local partners to ensure it is available to anyone who needs it.
The team also want to take this opportunity to pay tribute to a service user advocate called Lee Collingham. He first brought naloxone to the city in 2011, after visiting a conference in Beirut. He was a passionate advocate of harm reduction. He sadly passed away in February 2024
For more information on naloxone, training or provision, please e mail healthshop@nottshc.nhs.uk.
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