Drug-related NHS hospital admissions

The number of hospital admissions in Northumberland in which the main diagnosis was drug-related disorder doubled in the past year, according to new figures.
Brought to you by the Northumberland Gazette.Brought to you by the Northumberland Gazette.
Brought to you by the Northumberland Gazette.

An annual report that brings together information from a variety of sources to give a joined-up picture of drug misuse was published by NHS Digital this week.

Statistics on Drugs Misuse 2017 draws together information about drug misuse by adults and children from a number of sources, including NHS Digital’s Hospital Episode Statistics.

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In 2015/16, the number of NHS hospital admissions where the primary diagnosis was of drug-related mental-health or behavioural disorder in Northumberland was 52, up from 26 in 2014/15 and 17 the year before that.

This figure of 52 was higher than everywhere else in the North East, apart from County Durham and Sunderland, and represents 19 admissions per 100,000 population, above the rates in the North East as a whole (18) and England (15).

The number of hospital admissions in 2015/16 where the primary or secondary diagnosis was of drug-related mental-health or behavioural disorder in Northumberland was 423, a slight rise from 419 in 2014/15 and 341 in 2013/14.

On this measure, the county’s per 100,000 figure – 158 – was lower than the North East (186), but remained above the figure for England (148).

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However, there was a decrease in 2015/16 in Northumberland in the number of hospital admissions where the primary diagnosis was of poisoning by illicit drugs; down from 104 in 2014/15 to 82 in 2015/16. This figure is also below 2013/14’s 94.

This represents 29 per 100,000 population, again below the North-East figure (36) but above that for England as a whole (27).