Campaigners call for the Government 'to take the rising rate of alcohol deaths in the North East seriously.'

STARK statistics on the number of people abusing drugs and alcohol in Stockton have prompted a new blueprint to be drawn up.

Figures from Public Health England (PHE) show 1,898 people in the borough misuse opiates and/or crack – with 46% of those not receiving drug treatment.

Meanwhile, more than a third of Stockton folk drink too much (36.7%) with chronic liver disease, alcohol related injury, illness and death all above the national average.

Stockton Council spends £3.3m of its £14m public health budget on drug and alcohol problems.

All of its contracts with treatment services, bar one, are due to end in March 2020 – leaving the authority looking at what it does next.

An authority report into how it prevents, treats and supports the troublesome pairing has acknowledged “patterns of misuse have changed” since services were last set up.

Among the changing patterns emerging were:

• Higher strength forms of cannabis.

• New psychoactive substances.

• Prescription drugs.

• Fentanyl.

• Increased use of cocaine and crack.

The report adds that numbers in alcohol treatment have fallen while hospital admissions for alcohol related problems continue to rise.

Added to the mix are PHE figures showing Stockton has a higher rate of hospital admissions due to drug overdoses and more people dying from drugs compared to “similar areas” in the country.

A “steering group” made up of council services, Cleveland Police and health bodies will be working out which services to sign up in the run up to 2020.

ALCOHOL-RELATED HOSPITAL ADMISSIONS (Source: Public Health England 2016/17 – rate per 100,000 of population)

Stockton – 901

Redcar and Cleveland – 768

Middlesbrough – 898 per

Hartlepool – 952 per

North East average – 866

National average – 636

Dr Tanja Braun told the latest adult health and well-being commissioning group the project would seek to understand “what the issues are” and “what the new model should look like”.

Cllr Jim Beall, member for adult social care, cheered the council’s “success” in securing free input from PHE – a “nationally renowned body” to look at alcohol services.

But he warned the plan for services could face some “hard decisions” later down the line.

He added: “At the end of the day there will be a political decision on this because we are currently spending £3.3m of a £14m public health budget, which is diminishing year after year by the government’s forward planning of cuts.

“We’re spending that on no more than 3% of a 190,000 population.

“I’m not trying to be killjoy here but unfortunately that’s what councillors get elected for – the hard decisions about where the money goes.

“I will fight the cause for services but it’s got to be married against all the other things that are happening in terms of cuts.”

Cllr Beall said the council had “engineered the system” to ensure all the contracts had ended at roughly the same time.

“We’ve set this up in a very planned way,” he added.

“We’ve allowed ourselves a good piece of time so we can have new services after that.

A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson said:

“We want everyone across the country to get the help, treatment and support they need, and we are committed to doing more to reduce alcohol and drug related harm.

“Our Drug Strategy 2017 aims to protect the most vulnerable and help those with a drug dependency to recover and turn their lives around. Work is also underway to develop a new alcohol strategy that will reduce harmful drinking.”

• We are giving local authorities £16 billion over the current spending period to provide public health services, including drug support and treatment.

• The government's new Drug Strategy 2017 sets out a balanced approach which tackles the illicit drug trade, protects the most vulnerable and help those with drug dependency to recover and turn their lives around. In total, 127,475 individuals exited the drug and alcohol treatment system in 2016-17, with 49% (62,500) having successfully completed their treatment free of dependence. This compares to 50% in 2015-16.

• In his 2017 Budget, the Chancellor announced plans to tackle excessive alcohol consumption by targeting cheap, high strength, low quality 'white' ciders. This will be achieved through the introduction of a higher duty band for ciders with a 6.9% - 7.5% abv.

• We have recently announced £6 million of support to reduce the harms experienced by children of alcoholic parents through targeted local interventions and an expansion of helplines.

• The 2016 UK Chief Medical Officers’ low risk drinking guidelines provide the public with the most up to date scientific information to help people make informed decisions about their own drinking.

• Public Health England continues to support the role of local authorities by providing data, evidence and support to local government interventions in secondary NHS care and the treatment of dependent drinkers.

• We continue to work with the police and law enforcement, Public Health England and treatment providers, local authorities, and other partners to tackle drug misuse.

• A 2016 inquiry carried out by PHE into the rises in drug-related deaths concluded that the rise in drug-related deaths has likely been caused – at least in part – by an increase in the availability of heroin, following a fall in deaths during a period when heroin purity and availability was significantly reduced. The longer-term upward trend in drug-related deaths is largely caused by an ageing cohort of heroin users, many of whom started to use heroin in the 1980s and 90s, who are now experiencing cumulative physical and mental health conditions that make them more susceptible to overdose.

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/preventing-drug-related-deaths