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Distribution of Drug-Related Problems Among London Casualty Departments

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 January 2018

A. Hamid Ghodse
Affiliation:
Addiction Research Unit, Institute of Psychiatry, 101 Denmark Hill, London SE5 8AF
Nigel S. B. Rawson
Affiliation:
Addiction Research Unit, Institute of Psychiatry, 101 Denmark Hill, London SE5 8AF

Extract

A survey of patients with drug-related problems seen in London casualty departments during the course of one month revealed 1,706 separate incidents. In 477 cases the patients were dependent on drugs, and more than 40 per cent were dealt with by only five hospitals, all in the West End of London. The remaining 1,229 incidents involved non-dependent patients who had taken a drug overdose, and these cases were distributed more evenly between hospitals all over the Greater London area. The implications of this study for service planning and for further monitoring of the patterns of drug misuse are discussed.

Type
Papers
Copyright
Copyright © Royal College of Psychiatrists, 1978 

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