Drug admissions rise by 150% in South East hospitals

NHS figures show that hospitals across the South East are struggling with drug admissions.

According to new analysis by local drug addiction experts the UK Addiction Treatment Group (UKAT), there are over 10,000 hospital admissions due to drug addiction in the region every year. That's a rise of 10% on the year before.

The number of admissions with a primary or secondary diagnosis of drug-related mental and behavioural disorders represents a rate of 122 per 100,000 South East population.

Eytan Alexander, Managing Director of the UKAT, which runs the Recovery Lighthouse treatment centre in Worthing says lockdown has made the situation worse:

"It's accelerating people's drink and drug usage. Any issues along those lines where, if there was a crack, it's been opened and people are struggling.

"Addiction can mimic mental health, and mental health can mimic addiction. So you don't quite know if it's the drugs that's causing the mental health or if it's the mental health problem causing the addiction".

Nuno Albuquerque, Group Treatment Lead at UKAT says this is expected to get worse:

“Unfortunately we expect these figures to rise again in the next annual report as the impact of the rest of 2020 and the multiple Covid-19 lockdowns and restrictions are included in the figures.

“What we’re already seeing is that more and more people across the South East are struggling with drugs, which is resulting in increasing pressure on our already stretched NHS as admissions for mental, behavioural, injuries and poisoning by drugs continue to flood in.

"But, imagine how much worse a person's relationship with drugs may have become during the difficult year of 2020.

“Our local treatment centres - Primrose Lodge in Surrey, Recovery Lighthouse in West Sussex and Banbury Lodge in Oxfordshire- are operating at almost maximum capacity and admitting clients every day for drug-related disorders.

“All we can ask is that Councils across the South East, especially those where the data clearly shows a rise in hospital admissions, choose to invest in effective drug and alcohol treatment strategies this financial year in order to really support those in their communities who are clearly struggling.”