The scale of Knowsley’s drug problem has been revealed in a new report.
In the borough, twice as many young people have drug related hospital admissions than the national average.
In Knowsley, the rate is 164 per 100,000 while for the UK as a whole that figure sits at 86 per 100,000 young people aged 15 -24 with drug related hospital admissions.
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The number of young people in drug treatment in Knowsley, coming in at 14% of all those in treatment is however less than the national average of 16%.
Yet more families with children present for drug services in Knowsley compared to the rest of the UK. Significantly more people accessing services have disabilities in the borough compared with elsewhere in the country.
Over the most recent three year period, there were 35 drug related deaths in Knowsley. Council officers say they are attempting to tackle issues such as potential overdose by promoting the availability of medicine to combat the effects of overdoses within services accessed by those otherwise not receiving treatment, such as at needle exchanges.
Speaking at a meeting of Knowsley’s health and wellbeing scrutiny committee tonight, July 19, public health programme manager Robert Begg outlined a £2.6m programme to further tackle drug related issues in the borough.
Mr Begg said: “What we want to do as part of the strategy is build on that really good work [already taking place] and encouraging more people into treatment, and we really want to encourage that unmet need.
“We know the offer is good but what we want to do as a system is start encouraging more people [to access treatment].”
He said that as well as the health cost of substance abuse, there is also the social cost, for example in terms of the impact of drug related crime. In Knowsley, there are on average 88 drug related offences reported per month.
As part of the the ADDER project, funded by a £2.6m grant from the Department of Social Care, officers have been putting together a two year strategy to bridge gaps in existing provision and bring down some of these figures.
This includes adding extra needle exchanges, training programmes and supporting the availability of anti-overdose medication.
Other measures include the use of outreach in areas such as Halewood and Stockbridge Village and in hospitals in the boroughs seeks to bring those hard to reach people in front of key services.
Mr Begg said the benefits are tangible. He said: “It is estimated there is a £10m benefit for the socioeconics here in Knowsley [from investing in treatment].”
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