NALOXONE
ACCESS ALL
AREAS
The government is consulting on widening access to naloxone to include homelessness shelters, hostels and possibly even public access boxes. It could be a game changer, says Elli-Jay McNally
The UK government is currently undertaking a tenweek consultation on further expansions for access to naloxone( see news, page 5). Considering the previous 2024 consultation and subsequent amendments to the Human Medicines Regulations( HMR), I was expecting an update on the naloxone registration service that allows non-prescribing professionals and organisations to supply this life-saving kit.
However, the latest proposals go further, with the idea of making naloxone easier to obtain by people who need it most. With the previous year seeing yet another rise in drug-related deaths, and the increased prevalence of synthetic opioids, access is more important than ever. The changes proposed are urgently needed – unless there’ s more naloxone available, we’ ll continue to see more people die.
One of the core proposals is to further extend the list of approved professionals who can supply naloxone without prescription. The list was originally extended in the 2024 HMR amendment to include professionals such as pharmacists and pharmacy technicians, and at Turning Point we’ ve already seen the benefits – our Lincolnshire service has signed up 35 pharmacies to our naloxone supply scheme in the last two months. On the back of the consultation, the number of places providing naloxone could be increased further to include hostels, day centres and outreach services, as homeless services often develop trusting relationships before a drug service is even involved.
The consultation rightly invites feedback from people with experience of drug use and overdose response.
Numerous reports have shown the increased risk of drug-related death in the homeless community – with deaths related to drugs and alcohol accounting for 43 per cent of all people who died whilst
homeless in 2024 – so data such as this makes me question why these services aren’ t already able to provide naloxone. Hostels and street outreach teams can play an important role in responding to the increase in overdoses in evenings and weekends, so expanding access to naloxone in this way is much more than just a tweak to legislation.
Another exciting proposal is the installation of public access emergency naloxone boxes, similar to defibrillator boxes. A public access approach would further demonstrate naloxone as a health intervention in the same vein as first aid, supporting the normalisation of naloxone and reminding people that anyone can save someone from an overdose. Too often, passers-by ignore someone unconscious on the street – usually out of uncertainty, ignorance or stigma. Public boxes could change that.
While the consultation marks a welcome step forward, it’ s only the beginning. Meaningful change to naloxone provision will require proper implementation, underpinned by sustained funding and workforce training. Without clear financial commitment and practical support, good intentions risk falling short of real-world impact for the services and staff expected to deliver them. It’ s not to say we need to break the bank to provide more naloxone, as many local efforts to increase provision are running successfully with small budgets. We’ ve seen local teams in Turning Point collectively provide more than 650 kits through our‘ click and deliver’ service since 2023 – a service which has also made naloxone more accessible to families and loved ones. The Turning Point Suffolk service received three orders from family members in the first week of 2026, who then went on to access support from the local family service.
However digital exclusion means it’ s not realistic to expect click and deliver services to solve access problems for those at greater risk, further demonstrating the need for a public access route. The consultation rightly invites feedback from people with experience of drug use and overdose response, and as responses are collected and legislative amendments made, we need to ensure that the voices of people most at risk of overdose – and their families and friends – are at the centre of these changes. The proposals recognise that overdose prevention needs to be embedded into the fabric of the community, not just in drug treatment providers.
Naloxone isn’ t just an evidence-based harm reduction strategy – it’ s a matter of doing the right thing to stop more people from dying unnecessarily.
Elli-Jay McNally is national harm reduction lead at Turning Point
The government ' s consultation is open until 9 March. Please consider submitting a response to implement these much-needed changes to the legislation. https:// www. gov. uk / government / consultations / expanding-access-to-naloxonesupply-and-emergency-use
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