Some minor changes at Crown St NSP
Tuesday, 10 December 2024.
Decorating the Crown St NSP for Support Don’t Punish Day, June 26.
There are two changes to the operation of NUAA’s NSP at 345 Crown Street, Surry Hills.
For the past 6 years, people using the the Crown St NSP have been able to access “Open Clinic on Crown”, a nurse-led primary health care service provided in collaboration with the Kirketon Road Centre (KRC). This open clinic service will no longer operate after 19 December 2024.
Our Crown St NSP will be offering all other services as per usual, albeit with some very small changes in open hours. The Crown St NSP will no longer be open on Saturdays after December 14 (when it will operate from 10am to 3pm) but it will remain open 8:30am – 6:30pm, Monday to Friday, as usual. There is an after-hours machine outside the front, which charges $2 and supplies 3x1ml syringes, water, cotton, spoon, and swabs.
KRC is only a short walk from the Crown St NSP. They can be found above the Fire Station on Victoria Street, Darlinghurst, and provide a full range of health services, which are free and anonymous, to people who experience barriers to accessing health care. KRC identifies its 5 priority groups of service users as:
People who inject drugs or are experiencing drug related harms
Sex workers
People experiencing homelessness
At-risk young people under 25, experiencing any of the above
People in urgent need of sexual health or HIV/Hepatitis care
Health services available at KRC include sexual health, Needle Syringe Program (NSP), Opioid Agonist Treatment Program (OAT), Naloxone training and supply, hep C treatment, HIV services, Aboriginal health, general medical care, and counselling services. There are also other services available, such as assistance with emergency, short-term and long-term accommodation issues, including applications, advocacy and support.
KRC is open 9:30am – 5pm on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday and 1pm – 5pm on Wednesday. It is also open 10am – 1:30pm on weekends and public holidays for NSP and OAT dispensing only (not for testing or clinical services). Call (02) 9360 2766 for more information or to book an appointment.
As well as a comprehensive selection of harm-reduction equipment, the Crown St NSP offers hep C testing and referral. Hep C testing is available at the NSP between midday and 3pm, Tuesday to Friday. There are 2 types of test are available — Point of Care Testing (POCT) and Dry Blood Spot Testing (DBS) — and the service users, not the staff, get to choose. NSP staff can help anyone testing positive access treatment. And it is worth mentioning that the “Direct Acting Antivirals” that are used to treat hep C these days, have a 97% success rate and very few side-effects — a welcome change from the days of Interferon.
NUAA NSP staff all have lived experience of IV drug use. When it comes to hep C testing, one thing this means is they know how to find a vein! Injecting drug users will often have experienced being “pin cushioned” and NUAA’s staff know why this makes people wary of getting any blood test for anything.
The staff’s lived experience means they can talk and answer questions in a way that is meaningful, relatable and believable to other people who inject or have injected drugs, which is important because people who inject drugs have usually experienced stigma from service providers at some time.
The Crown St NSP stocks an extensive range of injecting and harm-reduction equipment, including syringes, tips, barrels, filters, sterile water, alcohol swabs, cotton wool balls, plastic mixing spoons, and tourniquets. To help prevent overdose, the NSP also stocks fentanyl testing kits and the overdose-reversing drug Naloxone.
The Crown St NSP mails out equipment and Naloxone throughout NSW. To use this service, visit our online shop or call (02) 9171 6650 (press 2 when prompted).