bbc-data-unit / opioid-addiction

NHS accused of fuelling rise in opioid addiction

NHS accused of fuelling rise in opioid addiction

In March 2018 David Rhodes reported on warnings from doctors that the NHS was fuelling an addiction crisis because of an increase in the prescribing of powerful painkillers.

Get the data

• ONS: Deaths related to drug poisoning in England and Wales. Data are presented by cause of death, sex, age, substance(s) involved in the death, and by country and region - cahced version in this repo
• Home Office: Drug misuse: findings from the 2016 to 2017 CSEW - cached copy in this repo
• NHS Digital: Practice Level Prescribing in England: a summary
• OpenPrescribing

Quotes and interviews

• Nicki Hari, UK Addiction Treatment, former opioid user
• Professor Jonathan Chick, Castle Craig Hospital, a rehabilitation clinic in Peeblesshire, Scotland
• Dr Luke Mordecai, University College London Hospitals
• Professor Helen Stokes-Lampard, chairwoman, Royal College of GPs
• Spokesman, NHS England

Visualisation

• Bar chart: Number of death certificates that mention opioids
• Bar chart: Items prescribed per 1,000 residents, by NHS region