Needle exchange used 8,000 times in Swindon

The data from 2020/21 comes from a report to Swindon Borough Council’s adults health, care and housing overview and scrutiny committee which will be discussed at the committee’s meeting this week.

The report said 82 per cent of the users exchanging needles were male, 17 per cent female and just under one per cent transgender.

The age peaks of the contacts were 29-31 for both men and women and there was a second peal for men between 34 and 41.

Nearly three-quarters, 72 per cent said the disposed of their needles and other equipment at a pharmacy – there are 20 contracted by the council to provide and exchange service, 12 per cent disposed of them at home and eight per cent at drug charity Turning Point.

The report says the needle exchange network was set up in response to increasing concerns over discarded needles around the town. And it appears to be having an effect.

The number of calls to the council about discarded needles has dropped dramatically over the last two years. In the first three months of 2019 there were 69 such calls, in January – March 2020 there were 50 and in the first three months of this year just 27.

Similar falls were seen across the second and third quarters of each year.

More money has been allocated by government to try and undo the harm done by drug abuse – and Swindon Borough Council was successful in getting some and has put together a new team to work with those who inject drugs.

The report to the overview committee says: “The team will provide an enhanced outreach service to our most vulnerable clients. It will engage, advise, and support them with safer injecting practices, safe disposal of needles and equipment, and provide motivation to enter service.

“The workers will also provide training and guidance to pharmacies on their needle exchange programme to improve focus on engaging service users in safer practice and exchange, rather than just providing needles, thus encouraging service user to return needles to the pharmacy.”