HOSPITAL admission have continued to rise locally because of drug and alcohol problems - in line with national figures.

Some of the increase is thought to be due to mental health difficulties associated with the pandemic with Covid measures having made access to some support service more difficult.

The number of successful treatments has also fallen – thought to be partially due to aftercare support being compromised by Covid restrictions.

A report to the pan-Dorset public health board says there has been delays for inpatient detoxification programmes and residential rehabilitation – although a regional inpatient detox’ unit opened in Fareham during January with bed nights allocated for Dorset and BCP residents needing help, which should help meet local demand.

Figures for the BCP area for alcohol related hospital admissions have risen from 591 for each 100,000 population in 2016-17 to the latest count of 635; while in the Dorset Council area the rates have risen from 394 to 416.

The figures for new presentations for structured treatment remain broadly similar overall  year on year 2020 to 2021) in the BCP area with those for opiate treatment falling from 464 to 400, and for alcohol increasing from 346 to 193.

In Dorset new presentations for opiate treatment have fallen from 206 to 158 over the same period while alcohol treatments have increased from 399 to 417. The Dorset area trend for all alcohol and drug treatments is slightly down over the period.

The figures for drug-related hospital admissions have not been made available although the county suffers around 50 drug related deaths a year. In 2021 30 of these were in Bournemouth, 6 each for Weymouth and Portland and West Dorset, 4 in Poole, 2 in Purbeck and one in both Christchurch and East Dorset. None were recorded for North Dorset.

Councillors will be told that avoiding drug related deaths remains a priority for public health services and, despite the pandemic, the number of deaths has remained stable.

The report says that testing for blood borne viruses and immunisation has also been affected by the pandemic with fewer patients being seen face to face – although a catch up programme is now underway to address this.