The government has launched a ten-week consultation on making naloxone available in homelessness shelters, hostels and day centres. The consultation also includes proposals to install publicly accessible emergency boxes for naloxone similar to defibrillator cabinets. These would be located in ‘high risk’ locations such as high streets and nightlife districts.
Legislation introduced in 2024 expanded the range of services able to supply take-home naloxone to include police, probation officers and paramedics. The new consultation also proposes that naloxone be made available to professionals who could be exposed to synthetic opioids during the course of their work, such as laboratory testing staff and Border Force officials.
The government intends to introduce the new legislation later this year – subject to the consultation responses and Parliamentary approval – via amendments to the Human Medicines Regulations 2012. The number of drug-related deaths in England and Wales hit more than 5,500 in 2024, the highest total ever recorded, with deaths involving nitazenes quadrupling within the space of a year.
‘We want to remove the barriers which prevent naloxone reaching the people who need it most at that moment when their life is on the line,’ said health minister Karin Smyth. ‘That is why we are launching this consultation to change the regulations and make sure those coming in contact with opioids through their work – or members of the public faced with an emergency – can save a life.’
‘At a time when opioid use and the risks associated with it are rising, naloxone is widely used across our services,’ added executive director of strategy and transformation at St Mungo’s, Sean Palmer. ‘Our outreach teams never go out without it, our colleagues are trained on how to respond to an opioid overdose and frequently save lives. We know that substance use can become a coping mechanism for people who feel they have run out of options, especially for people with complex physical and mental trauma which is too often both a cause and consequence of homelessness.’
Open consultation – Expanding access to naloxone: supply and emergency use available here until 9 March