A three year drug related death (DRD) strategy was agreed in April 2006 by Oxfordshire's DRD Partnership, which has representation from:

• Oxfordshire DAAT
• Thames Valley Police
• Oxfordshire Ambulance Service NHS Trust
• Oxfordshire User Team (OUT)
• Oxfordshire's Primary Care Trusts
  
• HMP Bullingdon
  
• Health Protection Agency
  
• Drug Interventions Programme
  
• Oxfordshire Radcliffe Hospitals NHS Trust

The strategy aims to reduce morbidity and mortality associated with drug use. The DRD Partnership is responsible for implementing the strategy and promoting harm reduction interventions.

PDF document Oxfordshire's DRD Strategy

A number of initiatives have been introduced by the DRD Partnership including:

• Breathing apparatus (bag/mask/valve) is now stored in police cars in Oxford City. Police officers have been trained to use this equipment by the ambulance service and attend annual refresher courses. This initiative will soon be rolled out to the rest of the county.
• Peer education workshops on overdose prevention and response are delivered monthly by OUT in partnership with Oxfordshire Ambulance Service NHS Trust. This initiative won a Thames Valley Strategic Health Authority award in 2005 for reducing health inequalities. These workshops are aimed at intravenous drug users and their carers
• A needle replacement scheme is offered by Thames Valley Police to drug using offenders taken into custody at St Aldates Police Station.
• Confidential enquiries are conducted into every drug related death in the county. DRDs are investigated by Oxfordshire DAAT and its partners to identify risk factors. The confidential enquiry process is informed by the partnership members as well as drug users, Oxfordshire Mental Heatlhcare Trust and Oxfordshire Coroners.
• An Early Warning System has been set up, co-ordinated by the DAAT, to disseminate messages in the unusual event of contaminated drugs being sold locally. The System ensures that one informed message will get sent out rather than various messages by different agencies. This is intended to ensure that the up-to-date and factual information is being given out. All agencies in Oxfordshire accessed by drug users are asked to sign up to the Early Warning System.
• OUT delivers a series of monthly peer education workshop on blood borne viruses to intravenous drug users and their carers in Oxfordshire.

Numbers of fatal overdoses have fallen significantly in Oxfordshire over the past three years as shown by the graph below:

For further information please contact Bill Holman and Vanessa Hayward.

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