Drug Related Deaths Summit 2015

As we’ve explored previously on this blog, drug users are likely to suffer health inequalities across a range of domains. However, deaths through overdose remain the most important preventable harm for the health and treatment system to address.

Last year’s annual report by the Office for National Statistics on drug-related deaths showed a sharp increase in deaths that were recorded as resulting from drug misuse, and we blogged and commented on this at the time.

The number of deaths rose from 1,492 deaths in 2012 to 1,812 in 2013, a 21% rise and the highest number since 2009.

At the beginning of this year, working with Public Health England and the Local Government Association, DrugScope organised a summit to examine what might be causing the rise and to look at what might be done to reduce overdose deaths in future years.

The attendees included policy makers from across government, commissioners, clinical and service provider leaders, and service user perspectives.

The key messages from the summit were:

• The availability of accurate, timely and easily accessible data is important in order to make the appropriate adjustments to policy and practice in order to reduce drug-related deaths;
• The majority of drug misuse deaths still involve opiates, in particular heroin and methadone;
• Being in contact with a treatment service would appear to be a significant protective factor for drug-related deaths;
• Services and practitioners should pay attention to the elevated risk for those in treatment who are regularly overdosing, are drinking excessively, live alone in temporary accommodation or are homeless, or as a result of smoking-related diseases have compromised respiratory systems;
• Policy makers and commissioners should think about providing timely and accurate alerts to drug users who are not in the treatment system - including drug users who don't use opiates;
• Commissioners and services should look at how they could supply naloxone more widely in the community to ensure those vulnerable to heroin overdose (including those not in treatment), their families, peers and carers are able to access the medicine. 

Download the report here.

Presentations to the summit

Half the picture – beyond drug overdose as a cause of death in opioid using people

The big rise in heroin and other opioid drug poisonings that the ONS reported last year has been real focus of concern amongst service providers, policy makers and anyone who cares about the lives of vulnerable people.

But new research from the University of Manchester suggests that while overdoses in opioid users remains the largest cause of death (43%) there are other causes which providers, commissioners and policy makers need to be conscious of particularly amongst older drug users.

Dr Tim Millar who led the research says,

“It is apparent that older users of opioids are one of the most vulnerable groups in society.”

Looking at the paper it’s easy to see why.

Take home naloxone

Stephen Malloy with naloxone

CC Image courtesy of  Nigel Brunsdon on Flickr

Andrew Brown, Director of Policy Influence and Engagement on the case for take home naloxone in England

Last year saw a worrying 32% increase in the number of heroin related deaths in England, which may have been reduced had naloxone been more widely available.

Naloxone is a medicine which is licensed for use in the treatment of suspected opiate overdose.  The medicine is already routinely carried and used by paramedics in the UK.  

In 2012 the Advisory Committee for the Misuse of Drugs called on the government to act to make naloxone more widely available, for instance, by providing drug users and family memebers with supplies of the medication, arguing that it is an evidence-based intervention, which can save lives and:

"fits with other measures to promote recovery by encouraging drug users to engage with treatment services, and ultimately, keep them alive until they are in recovery."

Earlier this year the Department of Health responded saying that regulations would be developed by the Medicines Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MRHA), and brought into force by October 2015.

In response to the rise in heroin and other opiod related deaths in England a number of organisations including DrugScope have come together to form the Naloxone Action Group for England.  At a summit hosted called by IDHDP and Blenheim CDP we looked at the learning from the national naloxone programmes in Wales and Scotland and at how a Birmingham GP (Judith Yates) has taken action to increase access to the medicine ahead of the MRHA regulations coming into force in October next year.  We heard from service users, drug treatment providers, NHS staff, academic and legal experts and others from across the sector and discussed actions we would want government, local commissioners, practitioners and manufacturers to take to reduce the number of overdose deaths.