Nitazenes and Fentanyls       

FOI REFERENCE: 24539  FOI DATE: 22^nd November 2024       

Please provide the following data on potent synthetic opioids, in particular fentanyl and nitazene, for the period between January 1st, 2019 to the current date, broken down by calendar year.

The total number of deaths where nitazenes and fentanyl were identified or suspected from January 1^st, 2019 to the current date. Please break down the data by calendar year

Answer:  We do not hold this data electronically.

Rationale: Searches for fentanyl or nitazines for those hospital deaths where the cause of death (inc. parts 1A, B or C) results in a nil return.

However, suspected controlled drug-related deaths are likely be referred to the coroner’s court and the results unavailable to us in a searchable format.

Any data on reported overdoses and hospitalisations where nitazenes and fentanyl were identified or suspected from January 1^st, 2019 to the current date. Please break down the data by calendar year

Answer: We cannot fully answer this question.

Rationale: It is not possible to directly ascertain the involvement of fentanyl or nitazenes from searches of the various diagnoses fields available for ED attendances or admitted patients. For ED attendances, we can report on diagnoses of ‘overdose – opiate’ for example. However, this would include other forms of opiate and not just synthetics. Furthermore, it is just as likely that a patient having attended ED resulting from an overdose might be diagnosed (in ED) as suffering from cardiac arrest or other similar conditions. For admitted patients searches of diagnosis codes T402 (Poisoning: Other opioids), T404 (Poisoning: Other synthetic narcotics) or T406 (Poisoning: Other and unspecified narcotics). And possibly others. Again, none of these would explicitly state whether the drug in question was fentanyl or nitazenes.

The closest we have been able to get to a picture of whether an admission or attendance involved either of the two mentioned opioid has been to search pathology results relating to biochemistry for positive tests for fentanyl or nitazenes.

From these searches, the following results are noted:

For fentanyl, there have been 12 positive ‘urine opioids’ tests between 01 Jan 2019 and 30 Nov 2024 there has been a positive result for fentanyl. These relate to a mix of admitted patients as well as those in ED at the time the request was made for the test. To ensure fentanyl presence is co-existent with overdose, however care needed in interpreting result as fentanyl may have been used therapeutically.

Searches relating to nitazenes reveal no such tests.

It’s worth noting that these results are likely to be a function of testing/awareness of the increasingly prevalent synthetic opioids. For example, there were no recorded tests for fentanyl in 2019 compared to the 313 in 2023 and 169 so far this year.

Provide the number of cases in which nitazenes and fentanyl were recorded in toxicology reports for patients attending healthcare facilities between January 1^st, 2019 to the current date

See Above

Please provide copies of any reports, surveys, or risk assessments on nitazenes conducted by or shared with your health authority during January 1^st, 2019 to the current date  

A National Patient safety link was shared with clinicians (Worcestershire Acute Hospitals does not hold this data)