Safer drug consumption facilities (SDCF) have been in operation across the world for decades. Evidence shows these facilities can combat drug-related deaths and improve public health by offering a clean, safe place for people to inject their own drugs - obtained elsewhere, not provided or purchased on site - under clinical supervision and access a wide range of treatment and support.
The Scottish Government has committed to making up to £2.3m available per annum for the development, set up and running of the SDCF in Glasgow.
The Thistle, which is based at the Hunter Street Health and Care Centre, will operate daily from 9am to 9pm, 365 days of the year.
Following approval to establish the facility, the Glasgow Health and Social Care Partnership began a comprehensive engagement exercise and there will be a continued programme of community engagement during the months ahead.
The Thistle is staffed by a multidisciplinary team made up of nurses, psychology, harm reduction workers, social workers, medical staff and admin. Staff can offer people safer injection techniques and provide harm reduction advice to minimise the risk of overdose and intervene with assistance if a person does overdose.
The look and feel of The Thistle and the rooms within it have been informed through engagement with people with lived and living experience. They were also involved in the recruitment process, providing useful insights and guidance.
Within The Thistle there is a reception and waiting area, private chat rooms where users can talk to staff and tell them about the drugs they plan to take. There is a separate using space with eight individual booths - two are wheelchair accessible and have either left or right sidearms - a post injection recovery area with trained staff and an aftercare lounge area where service users can, if they want to, interact with healthcare support staff and representatives from a variety of support organisations.
In addition, there are two health rooms where users can access a range of treatments including having any wounds looked at or blood borne virus testing undertaken.
Saket Priyadarshi, associate medical director for alcohol and drug services at NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde, said: ‘We have strong evidence from other cities with similar problems that shows a SCDF in Glasgow could help prevent drug deaths, help stem the spread of HIV infection, reduce drug-related litter and significantly reduce costs in other health and social care services. It will provide a severely marginalised group access to the treatment and support they have been lacking for years.
‘One of the aims of The Thistle is to support service users to engage with opportunities to improve their quality of life - housing, benefits, health. These are early but important steps into recovery.
‘We will learn a lot in the first three to six months, and we will keep developing services in response to the needs of the individuals. A robust independent evaluation will help us understand the impact the service has had on people who use it and the local community.'
Cllr Allan Casey, city convener for workforce, homelessness and addiction services, added: ‘We know this is not a silver bullet - but having a facility that is safe, hygienic and medically supervised will go a long way towards reducing drug-related overdoses, injection-related wounds and infections, and the negative impact that injecting outdoors has on local residents, communities and businesses.
'We know there are mixed views about having a SDCF, but I am confident we will see the benefits very quickly.'
The Thistle will be monitored and evaluated to demonstrate the impact it has on the local area and those who use the service. The evaluation will look at various aspects including litter levels, discarded needles, anti-social behaviour and crime.
