UK’s first overdose prevention centre comes to Bristol

A converted ambulance is home to a project designed to prevent overdose deaths, reduce needle sharing and help increase the number of drug users entering treatment.

The UK’s first operational overdose prevention centre (OPC) was on display in Bristol on Thursday for the day as the first stop on an awareness-raising tour of the country.

OPCs, or supervised drug consumption rooms, are hygienic spaces where people can inject their own drugs under the supervision of medical experts, trained to keep them safe.

The facilities can provide a vast range of services, from sterile equipment and immediate treatment for overdoses, to referral to social and housing services and provision of basic healthcare.

Between August 2019 and May 2021, a Glasgow drug worker, Peter Krykant, set up and operated an independent OPC using a repurposed ambulance as its base. It was used to supervise more than 1,000 injections and prevented nine potentially fatal overdoses.

The converted vehicle travelled more than 300 miles to Bristol to start a tour designed to raise awareness of the difference OPCs could make to many lives. It is not operational on the tour but is being used to highlight the potential benefits of such facilities.

Maggie Telfer, of Bristol Drugs Project, is certain that these spaces are an opportunity to reduce that toll – photo by Betty Woolerton

The mobile drug consumption room was parked in Brunswick Square in St Paul’s, next to the Bristol Drugs Project headquarters, on Thursday afternoon.

Over 150 drug consumption rooms have been operating for over 30 years in 14 different countries, without a single fatal overdose.

There are almost 5,000 active users of crack and heroin in Bristol, according to council figures, making it the second-highest drug dependence rate per capita of English core cities. The city saw 41 drug-related deaths in 2019 and 38 in 2020.

Maggie Telfer, chief executive of Bristol Drugs Project, is certain that these spaces are an opportunity to reduce that toll.

Speaking about the potential for a permanent OPC in the city, she said: “It would help some of the more vulnerable citizens in Bristol and have a real positive impact on us as a wider group of people as well. If people don’t have their own space to inject drugs, then people will be doing it in disused buildings, on muddy ground and edges of parks.”

Telfer added: “It’s a humane and pragmatic response to a significant issue that isn’t disappearing any time soon.”

The project was launched in conjunction with a memorial on College Green in memory of those people who died as a result of drug overdoses. 4,335 handmade forget-me-not flowers were placed on the grass in front of City Hall for the people who died from drugs last year in the UK.

The memorial was organised by Anyone’s Child: Families for Safer Drug Control campaign.

Despite campaigners calling for them to be introduced, OPCs are currently illegal in the UK.

Martin Powell, head of partnerships at King Street-based charity Transform Drug Policy Foundation said, “Over 150 overdose prevention centres operate worldwide. There is consistent evidence they are effective in reducing harm and that they give local police a mechanism to address street injection drug use in a way that promotes public safety.

“With the agreement of local police, Bristol can, and should, open one now – with or without Government permission.”

The 150 drug consumption rooms have been operating for more than 30 years in 14 different countries have not had a single fatal overdose.

Pat Hudson’s son Kevin died in a locked toilet in Carmarthen town centre in December 2017. Now a campaigner for Anyone’s Child, Pat said: “With the UK experiencing record levels of overdose deaths we need to start introducing innovative harm reduction measures, like Peter’s van, to stop our loved ones from dying.

“I believe my son would be alive today, and several of his friends, had there been such a centre where we live: somewhere safe for him to go. I hope that our campaign will influence policy and break down the stigma around this issue.”

Main photo: Betty Woolerton

Read more: Pilot scheme to tackle drug misuse and associated problems in Bristol

Listen to the latest Bristol24/7 Behind the Headlines podcast: