SDCF - Service user information
Glasgow's Safer Drug Consumption Facility will be called 'The Thistle'.
Safer drug consumption facilities (SDCFs) are supervised healthcare settings where you can consume your own drugs, obtained elsewhere, under the supervision of trained health and social care professionals, in clean, hygienic and safe environments reducing the risk of overdose.
You will receive a compassionate service which focuses on reducing the harms associated with injecting drug use and will be given the opportunity, if desired, to access other support services.
The Thistle will be located at 55 Hunter Street, Glasgow, G4 0UP and it is proposed that once fully operational it will be open 9am to 9pm every day, 365 days of the year.
Hunter Street is home to other treatment services, including the Enhanced Drug Treatment Service (EDTS). As there are multiple services available within Hunter Street, entering the building will not necessarily identify anyone as a SDCF service user.
The Lord Advocate has indicated that it may not be in the public interest to prosecute users of the Safer Drug Consumption Facility in terms of simple possession of drugs whilst on the site.
This does not apply travelling to and from the facility, and it is our understanding that Police Scotland will police the surrounding area in the same way as they do at present.
You can contact Police Scotland directly.
How do I access this service?
When you first attend this site, you will be asked to register, in exactly the same way as you do for needle exchange. This can be with your own name or a chosen name.
In order to access other support, for example Blood Borne Virus (BBV) team, or treatment, we may need more identifiable information.
If you are interested in helping with the evaluation of the service, you will be asked a few more questions – this will be your choice.
In the injecting area (also called the using space) you will supplied with clean injecting equipment and directed to an injection booth, where you can prepare your injection. We will supply you with a heat source. You must be able to prepare and administer your own injection, we are not able to assist you with this, and you cannot ask any other service users to help you or share their drugs with you.
After recovery you may either leave the facility or move to the aftercare lounge area where staff can help answer your questions on a range of health and social issues, provide support or advice in one of the interview areas (also called chat rooms).
Staff also have access to two health rooms where you can access a range of treatments including having any wound(s) looked at or BBV testing undertaken.
Staff will be available to offer advice on safer injection techniques.
Staff are on hand to monitor injecting activity, provide harm reduction advice to minimise the risk of overdose and intervene with assistance if a person does overdose. There have been no overdose deaths in the other Safer Drug Consumption facilities around the world.
Following injection, you will be asked to move to the recovery area of the using space, again staff will be on hand to help and support you and respond to signs of overdose.
Do I have to provide my personal details?
The Thistle service is a confidential service. All personal information about you and your use of the service will be kept safe and confidential.
You may consume drugs at The Thistle service and access some of the services that we provide (such as Injecting Equipment Provision) using just your Neo identifier. If you don’t already have a Neo identifier, we will generate one for you using a few details (initials and date of birth) that you provide.
If you wish to access some of the other services that we offer (such as blood tests) we will need to ask you for further details about your identity, if you haven't already provided those details to us. However, in all instances we will keep any information about you, your identity and the services that you use safe and confidential.
How will my personal information be used?
We will use your personal information to provide you with service such as blood tests, wound care or referral for other health and social care services that you choose to access. In addition, your information may be used to manage and evaluate The Thistle service.
To evaluate The Thistle service, we may link information about your use of the service to other personal data about you including health and social care records and Scottish Prison Service records. The purpose of this is to tell us if the service improves the health and wellbeing of people using it, for example by reducing time spent in hospital or prison. It will not be possible to identify you in any results and appropriate safeguards will ensure that the use of your information to evaluate the service will never be harmful to you or identify you individually.
If you would like to know more about how your information will be used and kept safe, please ask a Thistle staff member. You can also find further details here: Data Protection and Privacy - NHSGGC.
Key rules for using the SDCF
At present we are not able to offer smoking or inhalation facilities for drug use.
Those attending the service:
- must be over the age of 18 years
- can only use the drug they bring onto the site
- cannot share or sell drugs on site, and
- cannot help others to make up or inject drugs.
Staff are on hand to monitor injecting activity, provide harm reduction advice to minimise the risk of overdose and intervene with assistance if a person does overdose. There have been no overdose deaths in the other Safer Drug Consumption facilities around the world.
Clean injecting equipment is supplied for each service user and Naloxone is available and both of these are available for take home use.
If you are under the age of 18, we will help you to access services which specialise in supporting your age group.
What will the service look like?
The Thistle staffed by health and social care professionals, with close links to other health and social care services. The exterior of the building will look like any other Health and Social Care premises.
The facility will have a reception and waiting area, a using space with individual booths, a recovery area with trained staff and an aftercare lounge area where service users can, if they wish, interact with staff and representatives from a variety of support organisations.
Below you will find 3D images of what the service will look like
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