LONDON, december 30, 2025 –
Urology departments across the UK are facing increasing strain due to a surge in ketamine-related hospital admissions, with experts warning the situation could reach a breaking point.
- Ketamine use in the UK has risen significantly as 2015,with a 251.85% increase in monthly usage.
- Chronic ketamine use can cause irreversible damage to the bladder adn urinary tract, leading to a rise in patients seeking urological care.
- Healthcare professionals report a disproportionate number of ketamine-related cases are among young adults and teenagers, with many initiating use during COVID-19 lockdowns.
Urology departments across the United Kingdom are under growing pressure as hospital admissions linked to ketamine use have “skyrocketed” in recent years, according to experts in the field.
Ketamine, a class B dissociative drug originally used for pain relief and sedation, is increasingly used recreationally, and is one of only three drugs-alongside magic mushrooms and hallucinogens-to have seen more regular use since 2015.
Recent data from the Office for National Statistics shows that while ketamine usage decreased slightly in the past year, it remains high. The number of monthly users in 2015 was 18,000. By May of this year, that number rose to 50.
Factors Contributing to Increased Use
Downey believes several factors have contributed to the surge in ketamine abuse, including its affordability. She also observed that many of the cases she sees involve young people who began using the drug as a coping mechanism during the COVID-19 lockdowns five years ago.
“Most people I see are in their teens or early 20s, so looking at when they started doing ketamine it largely seems to have been during the pandemic,” Downey said, adding that many users are still school-aged.
“In under-16 drug centres, we’ve heard stories like kids pooling their pocket money together to buy some ketamine and then they’ll just share it,” she said. “They’ll take little, small amounts into the school toilets and take some then, which is absolutely frightening.”
Nadir Osman, a consultant urological surgeon in Sheffield, said that admissions tied to ketamine abuse have “skyrocketed” in recent years.He also emphasized that many users are unaware of the long-term effects of consistent ketamine use. “Ketamine is a unique drug as it truly seems like there are no side-effects, but its more complex than that,” Osman said. “It slowly impacts the bladder and the liver,and then the urinary tract. It takes a couple of years to begin to notice these effects, but once you start noticing them they’re pretty irreversible.”
Osman also noted that some patients on the surgical waiting list end up foregoing procedures due to continued ketamine use as a form of pain relief.
Need for Increased Awareness and Support
Prof Ian Pearce, a consultant urological surgeon and andrologist at Manchester Royal Infirmary, believes more needs to be done to educate people, particularly those of school age, about the dangers of ketamine. He also stressed the importance of providing support for those already struggling with abuse.”One of the main issues with ketamine is that the relapse rate post-rehabilitation is massive, so ongoing support is vital,” Pearce said. He suggested the government implement a “targeted educational drive aimed at secondary schools to really get across the message that this is a highly negatively impactful substance with a huge potential for lifelong sequelae.”
Chronic ketamine use can lead to irreversible damage to the bladder and urinary tract, requiring long-term specialized care.
