HAC5363 Pharmacy Needle Exchange Service

The London Borough of Tower Hamlets (LBTH) is inviting bids from established, suitably experienced and qualified LBTH community pharmacy providers for the above services.

The aim of the service is to provide a needle exchange and harm reduction service to Tower Hamlets residents aged 18 or over.

NICE guidance published in 2014 outlines the main aim of needle and syringe programmes as "to reduce the transmission of blood-borne viruses and other infections caused by sharing injecting equipment, such as HIV, hepatitis B and C. In turn, this will reduce the prevalence of blood-borne viruses and bacterial infections, so benefiting wider society.

The World Health Organisation seeks to compact Hepatitis B and C to eliminate the viral hepatitis by 2030. Many needle and syringe programmes also aim to reduce the other harms caused by drug use and include:

There are estimated to be 3,561 opiate and crack users in the borough and over 700 injecting drug users. Prevalence estimates suggest that numbers are increasing.

Opiate and crack users make up around 85% of the treatment population in Tower Hamlets; however, there is around 47% of OCUs not engaging with treatment services.

The provision of clean and safe injecting paraphernalia contributes towards minimising the harm associated with equipment sharing and the repeated use of equipment.

Facilitating the return of used equipment also contributes positively not only to health outcomes, but also to the environment and local community as this can reduce potential risk posed to residents of the borough by discarded paraphernalia.

Additionally, needle exchange services can act as single point of contact and provide valuable interface between clients and front-line services; particularly for clients who do not engage in treatment.

Tower Hamlets has existing needle exchange provision in Network Area/ LAP (Local Area Partnership) 1 and 2 and we would welcome bids from pharmacies based within the following LAP/ Network Areas

1. LAP 3
2. LAP 4
3. LAP 5
4. LAP 6
5. LAP 7
6. LAP 8

This takes into consideration the geographical location of existing needle exchange provision and recent and upcoming changes to hostel locations as part of the reconfiguration of the hostel provision. Please refer to the below map which highlights the network areas.