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Community Pharmacy Scotland (CPS) has urged the Government to fund pharmacies to provide a national substance use service to boost the country’s fight against drug overdose deaths.

Although the number of people who died in Scotland fell by 13 per cent to 1,017 last year, its lowest level since 2017, CPS was adamant pharmacies can help drive fatalities down further if they are funded centrally.

In its manifesto for 2026, it said a national substance use service and centralised funding would “ensure pharmacy teams are uniformly commissioned to focus on the care and interventions that best protect our most vulnerable people”.

Figures from the National Records of Scotland showed opioids and opiates such as heroin and methadone were the main causes of overdose deaths last year.

A scheme ensuring all pharmacies in Scotland have supplies of naloxone for use in emergency overdoses was introduced in 2023 but CPS said it was “determined this is developed further to train and make supplies to those most at risk”.

The negotiator told Healthandcare.scot: “We continue to call for a national substance use service to support patients, standardising the service nationwide and setting expectations for patients and pharmacy teams alike.

“With appropriate funding and training, pharmacies can play an increased and vital role in harm reduction and support as patients navigate their journey to better health.” 

Patients face discriminatory treatment in pharmacies, says study

CPS’s call for a national service follows a study by the University of Strathclyde which found people with substance dependency face stigmatisation in community pharmacies.

Researchers said pharmacy students and newly qualified pharmacists witnessed “discriminatory treatment by staff, including negative language, segregation practices and unfriendly attitudes towards people being treated for drug dependency”.

Dr Natalie Weir, the lead author of the research paper which was published in the journal Addiction, said: “Community pharmacies around the world provide an essential service to people with all kinds of health issues and are there to help and support these people.

“However, our research has found that the empathy and professionalism shown to patients is not always extended to those with dependencies, potentially undermining recovery and increasing inequalities.”

However, researchers said students and newly qualified pharmacists “also saw exemplary practice when respect and compassion were shown and patients displayed appreciation in return”.

Dr Weir said “positive role models” in pharmacy teams “helped to form students' professional identities” although she suggested “their university training could be enhanced to prepare them for real-world practice”.