EXCLUSIVE: Number of naloxone kits handed out in Glasgow almost doubles

An investigation by Clyde News is revealing the number of life-saving naloxone kits handed out by NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde has almost doubled in four years.

3.906 were distributed in 2018-19, compared to 2,138 in 2015-16.

The drug reverses the effects of an overdose from opioids such as heroin.

Pauline Kinsman used it save her daughter's life.

She said: "It was the scariest thing I've ever had to deal with. She was minutes away from death".

"I couldn't get it open, I had to get her son to open it. I just stuck it in her leg.

"Because I had been a nurse it was easier for me to do it. It was still the scariest thing I've ever experienced.

"Seeing her overdosed, on the brink of death and having to bring her back to life. It was scary."

There's been a big rise across Scotland, with nearly 12,000 kits handed out by health boards in the latest financial year, compared to 8,479 the previous year.

But Sharon Brand from Recovery Dundee doesn't think this necessarily means more kits are being used.

"The number of people distributing it have doubled. Agencies that are able to give out naloxone now have more people," she said.

"That's probably the reason why more are being given out."

Two major drugs summits will take place in Glasgow this week, aimed at tackling the growing number of deaths related to substance misuse.

In 2018, 394 people died in Glasgow as a result.

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