The aim is to expand the availability of an anti-overdose medication without a prescription.
Nurses, paramedics, police officers and probation workers will be able to provide naloxone for vulnerable people to take home.
The government’s plans to update the legislation will allow the drug to be administered to family members or friends of known opioid users or to a homeless services outreach worker.
Opioid-related deaths make up the largest proportion of drug-related deaths across the UK, averaging 40 per week.
Professionals including nurses, paramedics, police officers and probation workers will be able to provide supplies of naloxone for vulnerable people to take home, the Government has announced.
The move is part of a ten-year plan announced by the Government on Monday to “expand and improve the drug and alcohol treatment and recovery workforce”.
The measures include incorporating professionals into the sector and developing better training for currently unregulated positions.
Health and Social Care Secretary Victoria Atkins said: “Opioid addiction can ruin lives and is responsible for the highest proportion of drug-related deaths across the UK.
“We are working hard to reduce those numbers by expanding access to naloxone to save the lives of the most vulnerable.”
Naloxone, which reverses the effects of an opioid overdose by rapidly reversing breathing difficulties, can be administered by anyone in an emergency, but can only be provided legally and without a prescription by a drug and alcohol treatment service.
Justice Minister Edward Argar told the House of Commons on Monday that around 400 prison officers at HMP Parc in Bridgend, South Wales, have been trained to use the anti-opioid drug after a series of deaths believed that are related to drugs.
The move follows an independent drugs review in 2020 led by Dame Carol Black, who welcomed the change in legislation.
She said: ‘I’ve heard first-hand what a life-saving intervention naloxone is.
“Expanding access to naloxone is key to reducing the number of lives lost to overdoses.”
The Government’s 10-year strategy also includes more training places in addiction psychiatry and accreditation of training for drug and alcohol and peer support workers.
