Issuing public health alerts about drugs
Guidance for local authorities about alerting health professionals and the public to the risks of new and modified drugs.
Documents
Details
Local authority public health teams and their partners can use this guidance to help them:
- assess intelligence about strong, adulterated or contaminated drugs
- issue public health alerts about such drugs
It recommends approaches local areas may choose to adopt, adapt or use.
Drug alerts can inform both people who use drugs and health professionals of the risks. Issuing alerts can improve local recording and intelligence, and make responses more effective. The LDIS model can also help with drug-related death reviews.
Download templates of the LDIS reporting form (appendix 4) and the criteria for grading alerts (appendix 6) for use in local areas.