Overdose Kills More Homeless People Than Ever Before
Drug poisoning has contributed to the biggest rise in deaths of homeless people in England and Wales since records began.
About 726 homeless people died in 2018, a rise of 22% in one year, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said. Deaths from drugs have more than doubled in the six years the ONS has been recording the data, reports the BBC.
Ben Humberstone from the ONS said the rise was mainly due to an increase in “drug poisoning”. Deaths related to drug poisoning among the homeless increased 55% between 2017 and 2018, compared to a rise of 16% among the population as a whole, the ONS said.
Of the 294 estimated deaths from drug poisoning in 2018, the substance detected the most was heroin or morphine, which was identified in 99 cases. This was followed by alcohol, which appeared in 75 cases. The number of deaths where heroin or morphine was detected in 2018 was more than double the number recorded in 2013, while cases where cocaine was identified tripled over the same period. The statistics include people sleeping rough or using emergency accommodation such as homeless shelters and hostels at or around the time of death.
Government figures suggest there were 4,677 people sleeping rough in England in autumn 2018. This was a slight fall on the year before, down 74, but still more than double the number recorded in 2010. The figures are collected by local councils, some of which count people they see sleeping rough on a given night, whilst others provide estimates.
In Wales local authorities counted 158 people sleeping rough in 2018, down 16% on 2017. Street counts and estimates in Northern Ireland found 38 rough sleepers in November 2018. The Scottish Government reported 2,876 people who applied for help with homelessness had slept rough at least once during the three months their application in 2018-19.
Dr Peter English, from the British Medical Association (BMA), said: “For too long, the needs of this population have gone shamefully unaddressed. As well as seeing a radical overhaul of social housing provision, we need to ensure that our health services are adequately resourced to provide innovative and integrated models of care for the homeless population.” He described the deaths as “unacceptable and completely avoidable”.
The government said it had brought forward “new training” this year for frontline staff in the dangerous effects of new psychoactive substances, such as spice, to help “engage with and support rough sleepers” under the influence. A spokesman for the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) said the figures were a “sombre reminder” there was “still much more to do to tackle homelessness and end rough sleeping for good”.
“Drugs can devastate lives, ruin families and damage communities, which is why we are undertaking a comprehensive review which will help protect the most vulnerable – including homeless individuals – from the harms that drugs cause and give them a chance to recover and turn their lives around,” he said. “We are also investing £1.2bn to tackle all forms of homelessness and have made the most ambitious change to legislation in a decade,” the spokesman added.
