Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many hospital admissions with a primary diagnosis of poisoning by illicit drugs there were by (a) drug or (b) group of drugs in each of the last three years.

Data collected by NHS Digital does not differentiate whether a substance has been taken illegally or has been prescribed. However data is collected on finished admission episodes (FAEs) with a primary diagnosis of poisoning and toxic effect for the financial years between 2014-15 and 2016-17. These figures are provided in the attached tables.

A FAE is the first period of inpatient care under one consultant within one healthcare provider. FAEs are counted against the year or month in which the admission episode finishes. Admissions do not represent the number of inpatients, as a person may have more than one admission within the period.