No Cover Image

Journal article 817 views 136 downloads

Handheld Raman Spectroscopy in the First UK Home Office Licensed Pharmacist-Led Community Drug Checking Service

Anthony Mullin Orcid Logo, Mark Scott, Giorgia Vaccaro, Rosalind Gittins Orcid Logo, Salvatore Ferla Orcid Logo, Fabrizio Schifano, Amira Guirguis Orcid Logo

International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, Volume: 20, Issue: 6, Start page: 4793

Swansea University Authors: Salvatore Ferla Orcid Logo, Amira Guirguis Orcid Logo

  • 62790.pdf

    PDF | Version of Record

    © 2023 by the authors. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license.

    Download (2.42MB)

Check full text

DOI (Published version): 10.3390/ijerph20064793

Abstract

Across the world, the interest in point-of-care drug checking as a harm-reduction intervention is growing. This is an attempt to improve intelligence about current drug trends and reduce drug-related morbidity and mortality. In the UK, drug-related harm is increasing exponentially year after year. A...

Full description

Published in: International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health
ISSN: 1660-4601
Published: UK MDPI AG 2023
Online Access: Check full text

URI: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa62790
first_indexed 2023-04-20T15:25:02Z
last_indexed 2025-06-06T06:41:34Z
id cronfa62790
recordtype SURis
fullrecord <?xml version="1.0"?><rfc1807><datestamp>2025-06-05T13:56:03.0252953</datestamp><bib-version>v2</bib-version><id>62790</id><entry>2023-03-06</entry><title>Handheld Raman Spectroscopy in the First UK Home Office Licensed Pharmacist-Led Community Drug Checking Service</title><swanseaauthors><author><sid>d4c62248f510e3b221916989a7bbe6a6</sid><ORCID>0000-0002-5918-9237</ORCID><firstname>Salvatore</firstname><surname>Ferla</surname><name>Salvatore Ferla</name><active>true</active><ethesisStudent>false</ethesisStudent></author><author><sid>b49270b9a0d580cf4f31f9a1b6c93f87</sid><ORCID>0000-0001-8255-0660</ORCID><firstname>Amira</firstname><surname>Guirguis</surname><name>Amira Guirguis</name><active>true</active><ethesisStudent>false</ethesisStudent></author></swanseaauthors><date>2023-03-06</date><deptcode>MEDS</deptcode><abstract>Across the world, the interest in point-of-care drug checking as a harm-reduction intervention is growing. This is an attempt to improve intelligence about current drug trends and reduce drug-related morbidity and mortality. In the UK, drug-related harm is increasing exponentially year after year. As such, specialist community treatment services are exploring new methods to improve engagement with people who use drugs (PWUD), who may require support for their problematic drug use. This need has driven the requirement to pilot an on-site, time-responsive, readily available drug-checking service at point-of-support centres. In this study, we piloted the UK&#x2019;s first Home Office-licensed drug-checking service that was embedded into a community substance-misuse service and had all on-site analysis and harm-reduction interventions led and delivered by pharmacists. We report on the laboratory findings from the associated confirmatory analysis (UHPLC-MS, GC-MS, and 1H NMR) to assess the performance of the on-site hand-held Raman spectrometer and outline the challenges of providing real-time analysis of psychoactive substances in a clinical setting. Whilst acknowledging the limitation of the small sample size (n = 13), we demonstrate the potential suitability of using this technology for the purposes of screening substances in community-treatment services. Portability of equipment and timeliness of results are important and only very small samples may be provided by people who use the service. The challenges of accurately identifying substances from complex mixtures were equally found with both point-of-care Raman spectroscopy and laboratory confirmatory-analysis techniques. Further studies are required to confirm these findings.</abstract><type>Journal Article</type><journal>International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health</journal><volume>20</volume><journalNumber>6</journalNumber><paginationStart>4793</paginationStart><paginationEnd/><publisher>MDPI AG</publisher><placeOfPublication>UK</placeOfPublication><isbnPrint/><isbnElectronic/><issnPrint/><issnElectronic>1660-4601</issnElectronic><keywords>drug checking; drug detection; point-of-care testing; harm reduction; drug-related deaths</keywords><publishedDay>8</publishedDay><publishedMonth>3</publishedMonth><publishedYear>2023</publishedYear><publishedDate>2023-03-08</publishedDate><doi>10.3390/ijerph20064793</doi><url/><notes/><college>COLLEGE NANME</college><department>Medical School</department><CollegeCode>COLLEGE CODE</CollegeCode><DepartmentCode>MEDS</DepartmentCode><institution>Swansea University</institution><apcterm>Not Required</apcterm><funders>This research was funded by University of Hertfordshire, grant number 11.101336.3367.</funders><projectreference/><lastEdited>2025-06-05T13:56:03.0252953</lastEdited><Created>2023-03-06T09:06:13.9691846</Created><path><level id="1">Faculty of Medicine, Health and Life Sciences</level><level id="2">Swansea University Medical School - Pharmacy</level></path><authors><author><firstname>Anthony</firstname><surname>Mullin</surname><orcid>0000-0001-6854-6171</orcid><order>1</order></author><author><firstname>Mark</firstname><surname>Scott</surname><order>2</order></author><author><firstname>Giorgia</firstname><surname>Vaccaro</surname><order>3</order></author><author><firstname>Rosalind</firstname><surname>Gittins</surname><orcid>0000-0002-0893-7936</orcid><order>4</order></author><author><firstname>Salvatore</firstname><surname>Ferla</surname><orcid>0000-0002-5918-9237</orcid><order>5</order></author><author><firstname>Fabrizio</firstname><surname>Schifano</surname><order>6</order></author><author><firstname>Amira</firstname><surname>Guirguis</surname><orcid>0000-0001-8255-0660</orcid><order>7</order></author></authors><documents><document><filename>62790__27149__bcb88136e7c04e4c8345c7bce34adeea.pdf</filename><originalFilename>62790.pdf</originalFilename><uploaded>2023-04-20T16:24:20.1090111</uploaded><type>Output</type><contentLength>2539535</contentLength><contentType>application/pdf</contentType><version>Version of Record</version><cronfaStatus>true</cronfaStatus><documentNotes>&#xA9; 2023 by the authors. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license.</documentNotes><copyrightCorrect>true</copyrightCorrect><language>eng</language><licence>https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/</licence></document></documents><OutputDurs/></rfc1807>
spelling 2025-06-05T13:56:03.0252953 v2 62790 2023-03-06 Handheld Raman Spectroscopy in the First UK Home Office Licensed Pharmacist-Led Community Drug Checking Service d4c62248f510e3b221916989a7bbe6a6 0000-0002-5918-9237 Salvatore Ferla Salvatore Ferla true false b49270b9a0d580cf4f31f9a1b6c93f87 0000-0001-8255-0660 Amira Guirguis Amira Guirguis true false 2023-03-06 MEDS Across the world, the interest in point-of-care drug checking as a harm-reduction intervention is growing. This is an attempt to improve intelligence about current drug trends and reduce drug-related morbidity and mortality. In the UK, drug-related harm is increasing exponentially year after year. As such, specialist community treatment services are exploring new methods to improve engagement with people who use drugs (PWUD), who may require support for their problematic drug use. This need has driven the requirement to pilot an on-site, time-responsive, readily available drug-checking service at point-of-support centres. In this study, we piloted the UK’s first Home Office-licensed drug-checking service that was embedded into a community substance-misuse service and had all on-site analysis and harm-reduction interventions led and delivered by pharmacists. We report on the laboratory findings from the associated confirmatory analysis (UHPLC-MS, GC-MS, and 1H NMR) to assess the performance of the on-site hand-held Raman spectrometer and outline the challenges of providing real-time analysis of psychoactive substances in a clinical setting. Whilst acknowledging the limitation of the small sample size (n = 13), we demonstrate the potential suitability of using this technology for the purposes of screening substances in community-treatment services. Portability of equipment and timeliness of results are important and only very small samples may be provided by people who use the service. The challenges of accurately identifying substances from complex mixtures were equally found with both point-of-care Raman spectroscopy and laboratory confirmatory-analysis techniques. Further studies are required to confirm these findings. Journal Article International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health 20 6 4793 MDPI AG UK 1660-4601 drug checking; drug detection; point-of-care testing; harm reduction; drug-related deaths 8 3 2023 2023-03-08 10.3390/ijerph20064793 COLLEGE NANME Medical School COLLEGE CODE MEDS Swansea University Not Required This research was funded by University of Hertfordshire, grant number 11.101336.3367. 2025-06-05T13:56:03.0252953 2023-03-06T09:06:13.9691846 Faculty of Medicine, Health and Life Sciences Swansea University Medical School - Pharmacy Anthony Mullin 0000-0001-6854-6171 1 Mark Scott 2 Giorgia Vaccaro 3 Rosalind Gittins 0000-0002-0893-7936 4 Salvatore Ferla 0000-0002-5918-9237 5 Fabrizio Schifano 6 Amira Guirguis 0000-0001-8255-0660 7 62790__27149__bcb88136e7c04e4c8345c7bce34adeea.pdf 62790.pdf 2023-04-20T16:24:20.1090111 Output 2539535 application/pdf Version of Record true © 2023 by the authors. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license. true eng https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
title Handheld Raman Spectroscopy in the First UK Home Office Licensed Pharmacist-Led Community Drug Checking Service
spellingShingle Handheld Raman Spectroscopy in the First UK Home Office Licensed Pharmacist-Led Community Drug Checking Service
Salvatore Ferla
Amira Guirguis
title_short Handheld Raman Spectroscopy in the First UK Home Office Licensed Pharmacist-Led Community Drug Checking Service
title_full Handheld Raman Spectroscopy in the First UK Home Office Licensed Pharmacist-Led Community Drug Checking Service
title_fullStr Handheld Raman Spectroscopy in the First UK Home Office Licensed Pharmacist-Led Community Drug Checking Service
title_full_unstemmed Handheld Raman Spectroscopy in the First UK Home Office Licensed Pharmacist-Led Community Drug Checking Service
title_sort Handheld Raman Spectroscopy in the First UK Home Office Licensed Pharmacist-Led Community Drug Checking Service
author_id_str_mv d4c62248f510e3b221916989a7bbe6a6
b49270b9a0d580cf4f31f9a1b6c93f87
author_id_fullname_str_mv d4c62248f510e3b221916989a7bbe6a6_***_Salvatore Ferla
b49270b9a0d580cf4f31f9a1b6c93f87_***_Amira Guirguis
author Salvatore Ferla
Amira Guirguis
author2 Anthony Mullin
Mark Scott
Giorgia Vaccaro
Rosalind Gittins
Salvatore Ferla
Fabrizio Schifano
Amira Guirguis
format Journal article
container_title International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health
container_volume 20
container_issue 6
container_start_page 4793
publishDate 2023
institution Swansea University
issn 1660-4601
doi_str_mv 10.3390/ijerph20064793
publisher MDPI AG
college_str Faculty of Medicine, Health and Life Sciences
hierarchytype
hierarchy_top_id facultyofmedicinehealthandlifesciences
hierarchy_top_title Faculty of Medicine, Health and Life Sciences
hierarchy_parent_id facultyofmedicinehealthandlifesciences
hierarchy_parent_title Faculty of Medicine, Health and Life Sciences
department_str Swansea University Medical School - Pharmacy{{{_:::_}}}Faculty of Medicine, Health and Life Sciences{{{_:::_}}}Swansea University Medical School - Pharmacy
document_store_str 1
active_str 0
description Across the world, the interest in point-of-care drug checking as a harm-reduction intervention is growing. This is an attempt to improve intelligence about current drug trends and reduce drug-related morbidity and mortality. In the UK, drug-related harm is increasing exponentially year after year. As such, specialist community treatment services are exploring new methods to improve engagement with people who use drugs (PWUD), who may require support for their problematic drug use. This need has driven the requirement to pilot an on-site, time-responsive, readily available drug-checking service at point-of-support centres. In this study, we piloted the UK’s first Home Office-licensed drug-checking service that was embedded into a community substance-misuse service and had all on-site analysis and harm-reduction interventions led and delivered by pharmacists. We report on the laboratory findings from the associated confirmatory analysis (UHPLC-MS, GC-MS, and 1H NMR) to assess the performance of the on-site hand-held Raman spectrometer and outline the challenges of providing real-time analysis of psychoactive substances in a clinical setting. Whilst acknowledging the limitation of the small sample size (n = 13), we demonstrate the potential suitability of using this technology for the purposes of screening substances in community-treatment services. Portability of equipment and timeliness of results are important and only very small samples may be provided by people who use the service. The challenges of accurately identifying substances from complex mixtures were equally found with both point-of-care Raman spectroscopy and laboratory confirmatory-analysis techniques. Further studies are required to confirm these findings.
published_date 2023-03-08T06:30:20Z
_version_ 1851282969526796288
score 11.090362

Similar Items