Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will roll out training on the use of naloxone.

The Department is working to expand access to naloxone, to increase the availability of this life saving medicine. On 29 July 2024 we laid legislation which, subject to passage through Parliament, will enable more services and organisations to provide take-home supplies of naloxone without a prescription.

As part of these changes, we will ensure appropriate training requirements are in place, so that naloxone supply across all services and professions is safe. We will require that new services and professionals supplying naloxone, other than armed forces personnel, meet specific training requirements, including understanding appropriate practice around storing and supplying naloxone, and ensuring they can properly support an individual being supplied with naloxone, including how to administer the medicine.

Training in responding to an opioid overdose, including the use of available naloxone, is already very well established in most parts of the country, alongside naloxone provision. Operational guidance for providing take-home naloxone, including safe use and supply, is available at the following link:

https://www.england.nhs.uk/publication/implementing-the-recommendations-of-the-neonatal-critical-care-transformation-review/

Information on the new training requirements will be updated after the legislation comes into force.