The Pink PalaceNEX for the 21st Century

“I’ve got a taxi waiting…”

• One at a time• Physical space unwelcoming and

uncomfortable for users and workers• Shared entrance with those in treatment,

including relatives & carers• Room also used for duty calls and crisis

interventions• Queue in the corridor created a perceived

need to hurry up• Works hidden away

What were we doing wrong?

• Service user reviews were irregular, uninformative and lay dormant

• Campaigns were pre-scheduled and often did not meet the current needs of IDUs

• We couldn’t track trends in drug use

Physical Changes

• NEX moved across the street, with a discreet entrance, just for IDUs

• Accessible by parents with pushchairs• Decorated in an open-planned, trendy

style• Works on open display in baskets• Privacy available in a separate room• No queue

Peer Education

• Empowers• Promotes discussion• Engages service uses and

encourages participation• Strengthens messages and

weakens misinformation

Service Provision

• Two Physical Health Nurses providing daily sessions

• Separate duty cover daily from 1-5pm• Immediate referral to treatment

services• Evening session• Collaborative working within Bradford

Needle Exchange Scheme, training pharmacy staff in NEX delivery

Campaigns

• Began monitoring the subjects of conversations and interventions to identify current issues

• Campaigns now designed to be responsive to these issues

• Campaigns are consequently more timely, more relevant and more visually arresting

Reviews

• Made compulsory at 6 month intervals• Forms expanded to ask more questions,

designed to maximise our knowledge• Risk assessment score matrices

developed for each major drug of injection

• Each IDU has a Risk Score applied to reflect the level of risk they take in using their drugs

• Individualised Harm Reduction Plan

Risk Database

• Developed to track changes for both the individual and the district as a whole

• To allow easy identification of IDUs who take specific risks

• To develop targeted campaigns towards those individuals

• Evolved into Action Research, enabling more accurate reporting of trends in injecting drug use in the district

• Enabled us to better meet the needs of every service user

For the first time, we are able to measure the effectiveness of our

Harm Reduction interventions and report outcomes for every NEX

user

Timelines

• Each IDU will have a graph timeline which maps the shifting pattern of their substance use

NEX NEWS

• Quarterly newsletter developed to communicate our Action Research findings, promote services offered by Project 6 and deliver Harm Reduction messages