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Written question asked by James McMurdock (Independent (affiliation)) on Wednesday, 10 September 2025, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Monday, 15 September 2025. It was answered by Ashley Dalton (Labour) on Monday, 3 November 2025 on behalf of the Department of Health and Social Care.

Pharmacy: Syringes

Question

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many pharmacies in England provide (a) supervised needle exchange programmes and (b) other substance misuse services.

Answer

As of August 2025, there are 10,412 community pharmacies in England. Many community pharmacies provide locally commissioned services including supervised needle exchange programmes and other services such as naloxone provision and supervised consumption of opioid substitution treatment medicines, like methadone. Pharmacies also provide free healthcare advice, public health interventions, and signposting to relevant organisations and services. Data is not held centrally on how many community pharmacies provide needle exchange programmes and other substance misuse services.

Local substance misuse services and community pharmacies should work together to help provide an effective service to people who use drugs and alcohol. This includes encouraging person-centred and trauma-informed treatment with shared decision-making.

The Department is aware of the challenges in the ability of some community pharmacies to provide substance misuse services and has been supporting drug and alcohol treatment services to identify local solutions, including increased payment and some alternative models of provision of these services.

Secondary information

Type
Written question
Reference
76534
Session
2024-26
Subjects
Drugs Pharmacy Misuse Syringes
Contains statistics
Yes
Link
View this Written question on www.parliament.uk