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Needle and Syringe Programme Community Pharmacy – Understanding change in needle and syringe programme transactions within a community pharmacy setting

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Authors: Communicable Disease Inclusion Health Programme Substance Misuse Team, Health Protection Division, Public Health Wales

Published on: 10th January 2024

The investigation has found that the factors impacting on the number of transactions recorded on the Harm Reduction Database (HRD) are multifactorial and vary both within and across the health boards regions.

  • A consistent message across Wales is that capacity to provide needle and syringe programme (NSP) services is impacted by the requirement for increased range of service provision in community pharmacies.
  • Awareness of NSP service provision may be limited due to lack of promotion and advertising of the service. However, many pharmacies were keen to resolve this and access NSP stickers
    to advertise service provision.
  • Staff knowledge and confidence in provision of NSP services varied significantly within and across health board regions.
  • Approaches to recording of NSP transactions on the HRD varied significantly across Wales.
    • Paper recording was seen as both a facilitator and a barrier.
    • Limited access to computers prevented direct recording onto the HRD in some pharmacies.
    • Awareness of how to access help with the HRD varied and directly impacted on the
      recording of transactions.
  • The formation of positive relationships with the clients attending the NSP facilitated recording of transactions on the HRD and provision of both NSP equipment and harm reduction advice.
  • Partnership working with specialist substance misuse services (SMS) provided a support network for the pharmacies and management of holistic care for the client group.
  • Changes to the social context of local communities in terms of reduction in daily pick-ups of opioid substitution treatment (OST) in some pharmacies, an ageing population, transient lifestyles, opening times, location of pharmacies and changes in trends in substance use collectively impact on the number of transactions recorded on the HRD.

This is not an exhaustive review of the experiences of all community pharmacies in Wales. However, it is felt that the sample is representative to inform understanding of the factors that are impacting on the number of NSP transactions recorded on the HRD.

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