THE number of drug-related hospital stays in Scotland has decreased slightly in the last year after rising steadily for most of the previous decade.

However, the coronavirus lockdowns and emergency measures may be behind the recent decrease, a report from Public Health Scotland (PHS) says.

There were 14,310 drug-related hospital stays in Scotland during the 2020/21 financial year, the equivalent of 270 stays per 100,000 of the population. This compares to 284 stays per 100,000 in 2019/20.

Patients can have more than one drug-related hospital stay throughout the year.

Opioid drugs similar to heroin were responsible for the highest stay rate at 127 stays per 100,000 people.

Sedative and hypnotic-related drugs reached their highest stay rate yet at 54 per 100,000 of the population.

Stay rates for cannabinoids also reached a record level, at 40 stays per 100,000 of the population.

The PHS report noted there was a sharp decrease in hospital stays for all drugs around the time of the first Covid-19 lockdown.

Those aged between 35 and 44 were most likely to attend general or psychiatric hospitals in relation to drugs while 50% of all patients were from the most deprived areas of Scotland – referred to as deprivation quintile one.

The report stated: “It is not known if the observed changes in the number of stays reflects a genuine difference in the number of such conditions, or a change in hospital admission policies associated with the pandemic.

“While hospital pressures may have eased during the summer 2020 period there were still many social restrictions in place, which may have had an influence on drug use and access to services.”

The latest statistics come after Nicola Sturgeon and Douglas Ross made a rare joint visit to a recovery cafe in Glasgow on Monday.

Ross has said he is now willing to look at the evidence of whether safe drug consumption rooms could help cut deaths, and promised not to oppose the Scottish Government if they launch a pilot scheme.

Meanwhile, Sturgeon has said she is “completely open minded” about the Scottish Conservatives’ plan to put the right for drug and alcohol treatment into law.