Drug-related mental health admissions in NHS hit record high

This article was taken from: https://www.theguardian.com/society/2018/feb/07/drug-related-mental-health-admissions-in-nhs-hit-record-high

By Damien Gayle

82,135 hospital admissions had a primary or secondary diagnosis of drug-related disorders

The annual number of hospital admissions in England with a diagnosis of a drug-related mental or behavioural disorder has reached an all-time high, figures show.

There were 82,135 hospital admissions in the year to April 2017 with a primary or secondary diagnosis of drug-related mental and behavioural disorders, according to the NHS figures. That compares with 81,904 over the same period a year earlier and 38,170 in 2006-07.

However, the number of admissions with a primary diagnosis of drug-related mental and behavioural disorders was down 12% on the previous year, to 7,545.

The number of admissions with a diagnosis of poisoning by illicit drugs fell 7% on the previous year, to 14,053, though this was 40% higher than a decade earlier.