The Lincolnshire Co-op has partnered with a drug service to offer greater access to lifesaving drugs in rural areas.
The partnership with Lincolnshire Recovery Partnership, the county’s commissioned drug and alcohol service, will make naloxone available in 36 of Lincolnshire Co-op’s pharmacies and there are plans to “introduce the service in other sites”.
This week’s announcement follows the Lincolnshire Co-op’s “proactive” response to an increase in overdoses in the Boston area, as the Lincolnshire Recovery Partnership said accessing naloxone kits in rural areas like Lincolnshire is “not always possible or easy”.
Read more: Government proposes to make naloxone accessible on high street
Lincolnshire Co-op healthcare development manager Josh Pinder said pharmacies are “uniquely positioned to provide timely support, advice and access to naloxone” and can help “reduce preventable deaths” by making this service “more accessible to people at risk of opiate related overdoses”.
“Our friendly colleagues have close relationships with patients and are able to give them the support they need without fear of judgement,” he said.
Lincolnshire Recovery Partnership senior operations manager Adam Sutcliffe said drug users “report positive relationships with pharmacy staff” and they “trust their advice and expertise, feel cared for, and find them easy to access”.
Read more: Pharmacies to boost naloxone stock amid ‘sudden’ overdose spike
“Pharmacies are vital in the running of our service,” he said. “Many of the people we support have frequent contact with pharmacy staff, so it made sense for pharmacy teams to be trained and able to supply naloxone kits.
“Pharmacy staff also see people who are not currently in treatment, and attending a pharmacy can feel less stigmatising for some people.”
Rising deaths
Naloxone will be available in the participating pharmacies in the easy-to-use injection called Prenoxad to reverse the effects of an opioid overdose.
Lincolnshire Recovery Partnership said increasing naloxone availability has come at a “crucial time” following the Home Office expecting an “increase in the coming years” to the number of drug-related deaths across the UK linked to the synthetic opioid nitazenes, which are “up to 500 times” more potent than heroin.
Read more: ‘Lives saved’ as over 300 pharmacy staff take-home naloxone trained
There have been 400 deaths across the UK linked to nitazenes between June 2023 and January 2025, but King’s College London (KCL) research estimates nitazene deaths “could be underestimated by a third” due to the drug degrading quickly in post-mortem blood samples.
Lincolnshire Recovery Partnership has also trained nearly a quarter of Lincolnshire Police officers on how to administer naloxone to “help tackle the rise in synthetic opioids”.
Its harm reduction lead Lucy Bond said the “more people that carry a naloxone kit means the more people we can potentially save”.
Read more: Devon pharmacy pilot launched to reduce opioid drug-related deaths
“I’m so pleased to see how enthusiastically Lincolnshire Co-op pharmacies have taken on this new responsibility,” she said. “Although it is still relatively early days, we have seen several kits already being given out across the county.”
The list of participating Lincolnshire Co-op pharmacies include:
- Birchwood, Liquorpond, Bracebridge Heath, Branston, Brant Road, Burton Road, Cabourne Avenue, Cherry Willingham, Louth, Barrowby Gate, Heckington, Holbeach, Horncastle, Kirton, St Botolph’s, Market Street, Metheringham, Nettleham, Newland, The Forum, Hykeham Village, Newark Road, Parkside, Rookery Lane, Ruskington, Saxilby, Skellingthorpe, Donington, Spilsby, Swineshead, Vanessa Drive, Waddington, Washingborough, Welton, Witham St Hughs, Monks Road
It comes after the Department of Health and Social Care launched a consultation in December to “expand access” to naloxone without a prescription.
