Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps her Department has taken to help prepare for potential increases in levels of synthetic opioid-related harms.

We are highly alert to the emerging threat from the arrival of potent synthetic opioids in the United Kingdom. The Department is an active member of the cross-Government synthetic opioids taskforce, which was established in the Summer of 2023, to develop mitigations to the synthetic opioids threat.

In July 2023, the Office for Health Improvement and Disparities issued a National Patient Safety Alert, which promoted awareness and provided clear instructions for staff in health settings across the country, to ensure they are prepared for anyone that may present with an overdose caused by synthetic opioids.

We are developing an early warning system to improve drug surveillance on synthetic opioids, and are also expanding access to naloxone, a lifesaving medicine that reverses the effects of an opioid overdose, so that more professionals and services can give out take-home supplies.

We are engaging on this issue internationally via the United Nations Commission on Narcotic Drugs, and are playing an active role in the United States-convened Global Coalition to Address Synthetic Drug Threats.