Interesting data you may have missed from the world of alcohol and other drugs in the UK. Part of a regular series.

1. Interesting things you
may have missed
July 2015
Andrew Brown

2. Number of current drug injectors admitted to first drug
treatment, by country
“A total of 12,909 current drug
injectors were admitted to first drug
treatment in 2011, with the United
Kingdom (34.8 %) accounting for the
largest proportion of reported cases,
followed by the Czech Republic (16.6
%), Italy (13.7 %), Greece (6.6 %),
Spain (5.7 %) and Germany (5.0 %).”
Source: http://www.emcdda.europa.eu/publications/technical-reports/trends-in-injecting-drug-use

3. Age of first use
Source:
http://www.emcdda.europa.eu/data/stats2015#di
splayTable:TDI-0197

4. Employment status of people with poor health status
“there seems to be a
substantial labour market
disadvantage for those
reporting that they have poor
alcohol/drug status. Those
with poor alcohol/drug status
have a 50 per cent lower
employment incidence and a
five-fold greater probability of
being unemployed (21 per
cent vs. 4.6 per cent).”
Source: http://www.jrf.org.uk/publications/does-poor-health-affect-employment-
transitions?

5. Incidence of positive tests for blood borne viruses by
setting
Source:
https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/
system/uploads/attachment_data/file/434
951/HJ_report_11_6.pdf

6. What makes people with a severe mental illness more
likely to be a victim of crime?
“We assessed nearly 30
demographic, socio-economic,
social, developmental,
behavioural and clinical
factors that could be related to
risk of victimisation among
people with SMI, but only
three were independently
correlated with this outcome:
service engagement, drug
misuse and a history of being
violent.”
Victim Support
Source: https://www.victimsupport.org.uk/sites/default/files/At%20risk%20full.pdf

7. When do people with substance use problems turn up
at hospital in acute need?
“We found that access to, and the quality of,
services after 5pm was not good enough.
Commissioners and providers should make
sure that they have the most appropriate
services with the staff that have the right
skills working at the times when people with
mental health needs are more likely to
access them.”
CQC - “Right here, right now – help, care
and support during a mental health crisis”
Source:
http://www.cqc.org.uk/sites/default/files/20150611_righthere_mhcrisiscare_full_3b.pdf

8. How substance use disorders contribute to mental
health related crises being seen at A&E
Source:
http://www.cqc.org.uk/sites/default/files/201506
11_righthere_mhcrisiscare_full.pdf

9. Heroin in the UK
For every tonne of heroin
that the National Crime
Agency and other
enforcement agencies seize
between 4 and 5 tonnes are
imported into the UK.
Tonnes of heroin
seized in the first
year of the NCA’s
existence.
Estimated tonnes of
heroin imported
annually into the UK.
Source: http://www.nationalcrimeagency.gov.uk/crime-threats/drugs

10. How might changing the law on drug possession and
sale affect use
“Only a minority of GDS [Global Drug Survey]
respondents (a group who are already interested in drug
use) stated that they would increase their use. Our
analysis suggests that these stated intentions are
influenced by the leniency of the policy scenarios. Stated
intentions to increase use tended to increase as the
policy scenario became more lenient…
“It is also intriguing that many GDS respondents
reported intentions to reduce alcohol use in response to
more liberal drug policy scenarios. This suggests that
any increases in harm from increased drug use might,
according to these stated intentions, be offset by
reductions in harms from alcohol use.”
Source: http://bit.ly/1Sog9tj

11. Impact of Operation Pangea VIII (9-16 June 2015)in the
UK
doses of falsified,
counterfeit and
unlicensed medicines
seized*
6.2m
15.8 m
£
worth a total of
*almosttwiceas
muchaslastyear
The UK operation also
resulted in 1,380 websites
being closed down
339 of which were domestic
sites.Source: http://bit.ly/opPangea

12. UK public service delivery using PbR
“If PbR can deliver the benefits its
supporters claim – such as innovative
solutions to intractable problems – then
the increased cost and risk may be
justified, but this requires credible
evidence. Without such evidence,
commissioners may be using PbR in
circumstances to which it is ill-suited,
with a consequent negative impact on
value for money.”
National Audit Office
“In the first year of the pilot ‘Payment by Results for Drugs Recovery’
scheme in England, linking payments to outcomes reduced the
probability of completing drug misuse treatment and increased the
proportion service users declining to continue with treatment.”
Mason et al. (2015) The impact of paying treatment providers for outcomes:
difference-in-differences analysis of the ‘payment by results for drugs recovery’
pilot.
Sources:
http://www.nao.org.uk/report/outcome-based-payment-schemes-governments-use-
of-payment-by-results/
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/add.12920/abstract

13. How good is your area at working with dual diagnosis?
The Hard Edges report suggested
that three in every five people
in treatment for substance use
problems is also suffering
from a diagnosed mental
health problem.
PHE’s fingertips tool suggests
that on average across England
about one in five people in
treatment are having
concurrent contact with
mental health services.
Source: http://fingertips.phe.org.uk/profile-group/mental-health/profile/drugsandmentalhealth

14. Why are people admitted to hospital when the cause is
alcohol related
In 2013/14, there were
an estimated
1,059,210 admissions
related to alcohol
consumption where an
alcohol-related
disease, injury or
condition was the
primary reason for
hospital admission or
a secondary diagnosis.

15. How the alcohol market changed last year
Source: http://www.thedrinksreport.com/news/2015/16101-uk-alcohol-market-returns-to-
growth.html
“The WSTA’s Q2 2015 Market
Report shows that the UK
alcohol market has returned to
growth following years of
continuous decline. The report
shows modest growth in off
trade volumes and a slowing of
the decline in the on trade,
resulting in overall volume
growth for the first time in five
years.”