Toddlers are among the hundreds of children who have needed emergency treatment in Tayside and Fife after being harmed by drinks and drugs, shock new figures reveal.
Nearly 600 children under the age of 18 were admitted to the area’s hospitals for injuries and illnesses relating to substance misuse between 2014/15 and 2015/16.
Many of those incidents involved older children overdosing on alcohol or drugs – including using substances to self-harm – as well as those who accidentally poisoned themselves.
The Scottish Liberal Democrats, which compiled the figures using freedom of information laws, said the 3,336 children who end up in hospital for substance misuse across the country is a damning indictment of the SNP Government’s failure to tackle Scotland’s drug and alcohol problems.
Mike Rumbles, the Lib Dem’s North East MSP, said while there is no clear cut answer, the hundreds of drug and alcohol-related hospital visits in Tayside and Fife are avoidable.
“Cutting resources to drug and alcohol services won’t help,” he said.
“If both families and children understood the need to keep prescription medicines and other drugs safe, and what the consequences of drinking and drug use are, then nearly 600 children could have avoided needing to go to hospital.”
In Tayside, 393 children ended up in A&E because of alcohol over the two-year period, while 90 were drug-related. Fife saw 84 hospitalised for alcohol and 28 admitted for narcotics.
Up to 32 of those needing A&E treatment in Tayside and Fife were aged four or under, although NHS Tayside said the vast majority of these refer to injuries caused by drug and alcohol use by third parties.
An NHS Tayside spokeswoman said there are a “range of measures” in place to support under 18s attending A&E for drug and alcohol misuse, including health visitor referrals and directing them to local services including The Corner, Key 2 Change, and Young Addaction Dundee.
Aileen Campbell, public health minister, said the Scottish Government has committed to keeping alcohol and drug partnership budgets at 2015/16 levels.
“These figures show the number of children admitted for drugs and alcohol fell by 13% over this period. Drug taking among young people is the lowest in a decade,” she said.
“The Scottish Government has an ambitious programme for substance misuse education to ensure that all young people in Scotland have credible and accessible information and advice on drugs to help them make the right choices.”
