Almost 50 toddlers hospitalised over drugs

Dozens of Highland children under four have been hospitalised for taking drugs in the last two years.

Shock new figures show that almost 50 toddlers had to receive emergency care after ingesting drugs.

The statistics, released under freedom of information legislation, also reveal children as young as 10 have been hospitalised for abusing alcohol across the north of Scotland.

Last night, the Liberal Democrats’ Alex Cole-Hamilton said the figures would “send a shiver down the spine of parents” – and attacked the Scottish Government for cutting funding for drug and alcohol services.

But Public Health Minister Aileen Campbell insisted drug-taking among young people is at its lowest level in a decade.

A total of 296 children under 18 have been hospitalised in the Highlands for taking drugs since 2014-15 of whom 45 were under four.

Recreational drug overdoses accounted for 25 of the cases, while others included accidental poisoning.

Mr Cole Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, said: “Accidents happen, and NHS staff do a fantastic job of helping when they do happen, but we need to understand why so many children aged four or under have been put at risk in this way.

“There is no silver bullet to tackling Scotland’s drink and drug problems but it is fair to say that cutting resources for drug and alcohol services will not help one bit, and could leave people stranded.”

Across the country a total of 3,336 children were admitted to emergency departments or to hospital in 2014-15 and 2015-16 as a result of drug and alcohol misuse. An NHS Highland spokesman said: “The Highland Alcohol and Drugs Partnership (HADP) deliver preventative education around drugs and alcohol to children, young people and their families.

“Over the last few years, the partnership has incorporated prevention resources for education into a substance misuse toolkit that anyone can access to help increase their knowledge and reduce associated harms relating to drugs and alcohol.”

Public Health Minister Ms Campbell added: “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.

“The health secretary has made clear that Alcohol and Drug Partnership budgets must be maintained at the 2015-16 level.”

It is a shocking statistic: nearly 50 toddlers aged under four in the Highlands have needed urgent hospital treatment after taking drugs.

If all under-18s are taken into account, almost 300 were rushed to hospital. The figures were recorded over the past two years by health authorities and released under Freedom of Information legislation.

Alcohol abuse also featured heavily, with more than 100 under-18s in need of emergency care for alcohol-related injuries, with some as young as 10.

What are we to make of all this? What is going on in our homes in terms of safeguarding, guiding and setting lifestyle boundaries for our children? It sounds like very little, in some cases.

Parents do not always turn out to be the best guardians of their children. In fact, they are often a bad influence.

With toddlers, parents have to stay one step ahead, while having eyes in the backs of their heads, until these very young children learn the dangers. A careless or unlucky parent can unwittingly cause death or leave their children with permanent disability. In teenage years, many rebel against their elders – at home, school and society in general – by experimenting or succumbing to unhealthy peer pressure to join in.

Abad experience can actually be the making of a young person, but it can also be the beginning of a downward spiral to addiction and tragedy without proper help – at a time when the Scottish Government is accused of cutting support.

“What is going on in our homes in terms of safeguarding, guiding and setting boundaries?”

Almost 300 children have been hospitalised in the Highlands for taking drugs