Pharmacies in Oxfordshire are playing a key role in providing services to drug users.

Shared Care Pharmacies

Community Pharmacists are part of the Shared Care scheme for drug users in Oxfordshire. The Community Pharmacies work as part of a team alongside the General Practitioners, Addictions Nurses and patients. Community Pharmacies are located throughout Oxfordshire to provide easy access and choice to drug users on supervised prescriptions. The pharmacy Shared Care service is formalised through a local enhanced service in partnership with the Oxfordshire DAAT and Primary Care Trust (PCT). For a list of pharmacies in the Shared Care scheme please click here.

Pharmacists working in the Shared Care scheme have completed the Centre of Postgraduate Pharmacy Education (CPPE) learning pack- Opiate Treatment : Supporting pharmacists for improved patient care, or more recent equivalent. Many pharmacists have successfully completed the Royal College of General Practitioners, Certificate in the Management of Drug Misuse in Primary Care, Parts 1 and 2.

Pharmacists providing Shared Care offer a service to drug users that includes:

• Dispensing Supervision of methadone or buprenorphine
• Liaising as appropriate within the Shared Care team
• Safe storage of medicines
• Harm reduction advice
• General health advice
• Sexual Health advice
• Signposting to other services
• Medicines management

The drug user is asked to sign a consent form by the pharmacist at the start of prescribed treatment, which outlines the service and allows the pharmacist to share information with other members of the shared care team, on a need to know basis only.

SWOP Pharmacies

SWOP is the name of the needle-exchange scheme operating in Oxfordshire. There are currently twenty-eight pharmacies offering SWOP under a local enhanced service in partnership with Oxfordshire DAAT and PCT. SWOP Pharmacies.

The pharmacies offer a very important service that allows injecting drug users to access free sterile equipment, whilst also providing a means of safe disposal. SWOP leaflet.

All pharmacists have completed the Centre of Postgraduate Pharmacy Education (CPPE) a learning pack Opiate Treatment : Supporting pharmacists for improved patient care or recent equivalent.

The service is free, confidential and includes:

• Provision of SWOP packs*
• Harm reduction advice and information
• General health advice and information
• Sexual Health advice and information
• Signposting referral to services
• Safe disposal of used needle/syringes

* Steroid Injecting SWOP packs are currently available at a limited number of pharmacies in addition to the regular opiate SWOP packs.

Jenner's Pharmacy

Cox & Robinson

Brett's Pharmacy

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