A NEW safe drug injecting centre in Glasgow could save the public purse around £13million a year, estimates suggest.

Plans have already been approved for the first supervised facility of its kind in the UK to help reduce the spread of blood-borne viruses and the risk of overdose and take drug injection off the streets.

Figures show around 500 people are injecting drugs on Glasgow’s streets.

NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde say that as well as cutting the risks to addicts the planned facility will also be “highly cost-effective.”

Based on local research of 350 people who inject drugs in Glasgow city centre, it found that this group accounted for a £1.7m cost to accident and emergency services alone over a two year period between 2014 and 2016.

Existing research suggests that the average monthly spend on health, addictions, housing and criminal justice service for people with complex needs ranges from £1,120 and £3,069 per individual per month.

And of the 78, new HIV cases diagnosed in Glasgow since 2015 among people who inject drugs, the potential lifetime costs to the health service is around £28.08million.

Proposals for a safer consumption facility arose after there was a steep rise in the number of HIV cases among people who inject drugs.

The draft business case will be discussed at a meeting of Glasgow Health and Social Care Partnership (HSCP) on February 15.

Susanne Millar, the HSCP’s Chief Officer for Strategy, Planning and Commissioning, said: ““The need for a safer consumption facility is about improving the health of those involved in public injecting, providing a route to recovery for a group of people often disengaged from support services and improving the general amenity of Glasgow city centre.

“The evidence clearly shows the potential for these proposals to create long-terms savings and so the economics of this issue are also compelling.

The full-business will be put before the Glasgow Health and Social Care Partnership Board on June 17.