Opening a supervised injection site 'not a simple process': new guidelines aim to help

With more supervised injections sites opening in B.C. and applicationsmovingthrough the Health Canada approval process, the B.C. Centre for Substance Use has published a new set of guidelines for running these facilities.

Associate director Dr. Thomas Kerr says the guidelines are designed to help a health authority or other body seeking to open a facility, conduct planning, find a suitable location, staff it and develop policies.

"Opening a supervised injection site is not a simple process when a city is opening a supervised injection site, they've usually had very little experience with them," Kerrtold On The Coast guest host Gloria Macarenko.

• Health Canada approves supervised injection site for Victoria

"We've really emphasized the great importance of engaging with the local network of people who use drugs and health services to do proper feasibility work to make sure this is a service people want to use and make sure it's designed in a way that's culturally appropriate."

Another point of emphasis, he said, is not just copying the Insite model. Thereare over 90 supervised injection sites around the world and some of them look very different and may better fit a particular local context.

• Health Canada approves supervised injection sites for Kelowna and Kamloops

Involve drug users

While the guidelines include options for groups considering opening a supervised injection site, they also include recommendations.

One concerns staffing: find positions in the facility for people who use drugs wherever possible. That insight came from feasibility work prior to the opening of Insite, Kerr said.

"What people told us over and over again is they had a strong preference for peers to work in a supervised injection site, that this would be a more comfortable, welcoming and safe environment," he said.

• Surrey's first supervised injection site experiences 'steady' first day

"Health Canada guidelines don't make it easy to include people who use drugs in the delivery of these services, but that's something that has been experimented with locally at the overdose prevention sites, and it's been a huge success. I think it's something we need to build on."

The guidelines also cover engaging with the larger community, whichmay oppose afacility.Kerr said that attitude is changingas deaths mount during the crisis.

You can view the guidelines here.

Listen to the full interview:

With files from CBC Radio One's On The Coast