National naloxone programme Scotland - Quarterly monitoring bulletin
Quarterly Monitoring Bulletin October to December (Q3) 2021 to 2022

About this release

This release by Public Health Scotland presents information on the number of take-home naloxone kits issued by the National Naloxone Programme (NNP) in Scotland. Figures are presented separately for kits issued from community outlets, kits issued in prisons at the point of liberation, kits dispensed via community prescription, and kits issued by Scottish Ambulance Service.

Accidental overdose is a common cause of death among users of heroin, morphine and similar drugs, which are referred to as opioids. Naloxone is a drug which reverses the effects of a potentially fatal overdose with these drugs.

Main points

During 2021/22 Quarter 3 (1 October 2021 to 31 December 2021):

• 9,006 Take-Home Naloxone (THN) kits were issued.
• 6,656 THN kits were issued by services based in the community.
• Community THN supplies included 2,989 kits issued by non-drug treatment services. Ninety two per cent (2,743) of these were supplied by Scottish Families Affected by Alcohol & Drugs (SFAD).
• 521 kits were issued by prisons in Scotland.
• 1,465 kits were dispensed by community pharmacies.
• 339 THN kits were provided by the Scottish Ambulance Service.

The total number of THN kits supplied in 2021/22 Quarter 3 was the largest since the beginning of the National Naloxone Programme (NNP), a 23% increase compared to the previous quarter (7,335) and a 66% increase compared to the same quarter last year (5,441).  SFAD distribution has increased markedly from 161 kits in 2021/22 Quarter 1 to 2,743 in 2021/22 Quarter 3.

At the end of 2021/22 Quarter 3, the reach of the National Naloxone Programme was estimated to be 63.3% – an increase of 2 percentage points compared to 2021/22 Quarter 2 (61.3%).

Number of Take Home Naloxone kits supplied by financial year and quarter Chart showing the number of take home naloxone kits for each financial quarter from April to June 2011 up to July to September 2021. It shows that there has been an increase over time in Naloxone provision, with a particularly large increase from financial quarters April to June 2020/21. There has also been marked increases over the past two quarters.

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Number of Take Home Naloxone kits supplied by financial year and quarter

Background

The overall aim of Scotland’s National Naloxone Programme is to prevent fatal opioid overdoses. Administration of naloxone provides time for emergency services to arrive and for further treatment to be given. Following suitable training, THN kits are issued to people at risk of opioid overdose, their friends and family and service workers in order to help prevent overdose deaths. For more information on the background of the NNP, see Appendix 1 in the National Naloxone Programme Scotland Annual Report.

Further information

The next release of this publication will be 6 September 2022.