A national naloxone service will launch in Scottish community pharmacies next month, Community Pharmacy Scotland (CPS) has announced.

Community pharmacies across the country will keep a supply of the anti-opiate overdose drug at hand for emergency use from October 30, CPS said this week (September 12).

The drug can be used to reverse the effects of an opioid overdose in an emergency.

According to the negotiator, naloxone stocks in community pharmacies will “support a reduction in drug deaths” in Scotland.

CPS described the programme as “a significant increase in access” to the drug and a signal that community pharmacy is “at the heart of the community”.

The Royal Pharmaceutical Society (RPS) in Scotland said yesterday (September 13) that the new national naloxone emergency supply service is a “huge step forward”.

It comes after RPS Scotland has “consistently called for naloxone to be available from every community pharmacy for supply to people who use drugs, family [and] healthcare professionals, and for it to be available in all clinical settings for use in emergencies”, it added.

But the membership body warned that it is “critical” that pharmacy teams have the “time and space” to undertake training to fully support them to deliver the service.

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