Significant rise in drug overdoses amongst young people in Derry

The number of young people admitted to Altnagelvin Hospital for drug overdoses has risen by 24 per cent in the course of a year, it can be revealed.

The Western Trust provided the latest figures after the Derry News lodged a Freedom of Information request.

Figures detail the number of girls and boys under the age of 18 who were treated at the Derry hospital for alcohol and drug overdoses throughout 2019.

Those admitted for drug overdoses jumped from 65 in 2018 to 85 in 2019.

Out of last year’s admissions, 50 were girls and 35 boys.

Data provided shows that 36 of those cases were categorised as ‘intentional’.

It also notes that 44 teenagers were admitted for alcohol overdoses, six of which were deemed to be intentional.

The hospitalisations include children as young as 11 and 12-years-old.

Fortunately, there have been no deaths as a result of any recorded overdoses.

Speaking to the Derry News, local GP and British Medical Association NI Chair, Dr Tom Black (above), said GPs are ‘definitely dealing with more and younger patients’ experiencing mental health problems which are often related to drug and alcohol abuse.

“The pandemic has been particularly hard on younger age groups because of increased social isolation and there has been a psychological price to pay for reduced physical exercise and difficulties with workplace engagement and education online,” he explained.

“Unfortunately, many of the drugs being abused are being bought online, for example Xanax is not prescribed by GPs in the NHS as it isn't on the list of drugs we are allowed to prescribe in the NHS.

“This means that although GPs do their best to limit the extent of prescribing of addictive medication, some people bypass this by buying drugs online.”

“Aside from the obvious problem of addiction this means there is an added element in that many of them are counterfeit drugs and are not what they are purporting to be, so frankly we have no idea what is actually in many of them.”

According to the latest Western Trust performance report, 113 children have been waiting more than nine weeks to access Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS).

That is more than any other Trust area, including Belfast where 91 children have waited over nine weeks.

The report went on to say that during January 2021, the number of patients waiting more than nine weeks for CAMHS has decreased by 55 per cent in comparison to January 2020.

Dr Black said that services in Derry and Strabane have improved with mental health workers in every practice through the GP federation system, but the NHS ‘still struggles’ to meet the needs of patients at this time especially as many consultations take place remotely due to the pandemic.

“Added services and support would always be welcome and I have no doubt would be widely used,” he concluded.

SOCIETAL HARM

Substance misuse causes significant harm in Northern Ireland, to individuals, families and wider society, with impacts on physical and mental health, unemployment, homelessness and criminal activity.

The estimated cost of alcohol misuse to the public purse in Northern Ireland is £900m, with £33m linked to A&E attendances.

The NI Audit Office has reported a 200 per cent increase in drug misuse deaths in the past decade and a 980 per cent increase in deaths between 2014-2018 related to prescription drug pregabalin.

Despite those significant costs, the Department of Health allocates a relatively small budget to tackling the problem - £8 million for implementation of its Drugs and Alcohol strategy.

And a further £8 million for statutory addiction services from the mental health budget - around 5 per cent of the budget.

Derry woman and NI Mental Health Champion, Professor Siobhan O’Neill, recently called for an improved mental health budget to meet the ‘greater demand’ in the aftermath of the Covid-19 pandemic.

The report also found the level of harm to be most acute in areas of high deprivation, where deaths related to drug and alcohol misuse are around four and a half times that seen in the least deprived areas.

Derry City and Strabane features in five of the top ten most deprived areas in the country.

If you feel in crisis and need support or if you have observed someone who is in distress and may come to significant harm through self-harm and suicidal behaviour please call the Community Crisis Intervention service on 028 7126 2300.

If you need to speak to someone urgently, please call Lifeline on 0808 808 8000, the Samaritans or attend your local Emergency Department.