St Mungo's trials life-saving overdose drug in hostels

18 March 2009

A life-saving drug that reverses the effects of a heroin overdose is being prescribed to substance users living in St Mungo's hostels in one of the first trials of its use within a UK housing project.

Naloxone, which forces overdose victims into immediate withdrawal, is being carried by drug using clients in two St Mungo's hostels following a successful pilot in Southwark, with plans underway to expand its use to other projects.

The charity, London's largest homeless organisation, in conjunction with South London and Maudsley Trust, is one of the first housing associations to work with prescribing services to get the drug to hard to reach clients. At present, only substance users who have entered into treatment can be prescribed Naloxone.

Normally used by paramedics and accident and emergency units to counter the effects of opioid overdose, Naloxone can be injected either intravenously or intramuscularly and has no side effects if the overdose is diagnosed incorrectly.

It was used successfully on six occasions during the pilot at St Mungo's Great Guildford Street hostel in Southwark and in each case was administered client to client. Staff at the hostel are also trained to administer the drug.

Gayle Jones, Substance Use Regional Manager for St Mungo's, said: "The success of the Naloxone pilot speaks for itself; six lives have been saved since Naloxone was introduced and our clients are happy with the project.

"Naloxone is a life-saving and virtually side-effect free drug. An ambulance is always called when Naloxone is administered to provide vital follow up medical support, but having Naloxone on site saves precious time.

"We are working to expand the use of Naloxone within our hostels and to widen the availability to clients who are not engaged with treatment services but who may be at high risk of overdosing."

Naloxone is currently being provided by on-site prescribing services within hostels in Southwark and Lambeth. It is expected to be rolled out to St Mungo's hostels in Camden in the next few months.

ENDS.

NOTES TO EDITOR:

  • The Naloxone pilot was coordinated by SLaM (South Maudsley and London Trust) at Blackfriars CDAT (Community Drug and Alcohol Teamand St Mungo's in conjunction with Southwark DAAT and PCT (Primary Care Trust).
  • Great Guildford Street Hostel is a 52 bed hostel for homeless men with complex needs, housing a number of opiate users. The hostel is staffed 24 hours a day comprising of project workers, specialist staff including Substance Use, Mental Health, Resettlement and Activity Workers.
  • Blackfriars Community Drug and Alcohol Team (CDAT) are a Tier 3 service providing treatment services to those with drug and alcohol issues. This includes the prescribing of substitute medications for people who are opiate dependant - for St Mungo's clients this is due to their use of street heroin.
  • St Mungo's is the largest charity for homeless people. We run every day of the year and each night house over 1,400 homeless men and women. St Mungo's run emergency services, support homeless people in their recovery, and work to prevent homelessness.

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