Hospitals faced nearly one million alcohol-related admissions in just 12 months, new data reveals.
In 2019/20, the NHS handled around 976,000 cases – marking a rate of 1,815 admissions per 100,000 people.
This is up from the 938,000 admissions recorded in 2018/19.
Men make up the majority of cases, with male admissions standing at almost three times the figure for women.
The data considers admissions where an alcohol-related condition is either the primary or one of the secondary diagnoses.
Dangerous infatuation
The worst places for alcohol-related hospital admissions in 2019/20 were:
- Liverpool – 11,485
- Manchester – 8,998
- Southampton – 8,088
- Sunderland – 7,246
- Stoke-on-Trent – 6,522
- Salford – 6,354
- Newcastle Upon Tyne – 6,274
- South Tyneside – 4,106
- Blackpool – 3,947
- Hartlepool – 2,582
Nuno Albuquerque is head of treatment at UKAT.
‘The NHS was crippled to the tune of nearly one million alcohol-related hospital admissions in 2019/20; the third consecutive annual rise,’ he said.
‘Clearly, we are a society dangerously infatuated with alcohol, especially those living in the north.
‘Considering it is a legal substance associated with having a good time, it is causing a lot of problems not just for the individuals consuming it, but for those who look after us.
‘The cost of treatment to the NHS alone will be eye-watering. So why are we not using this as leverage to force ring fenced budgets for awareness, education and treatment of alcohol related problems?’
Encouraging
He added: ‘The government has made some encouraging noise recently about their plans for a drug reform. But as always, this country’s problem with alcohol just gets swept under the table and ignored.
‘We expect this to become a much bigger beast to tame in the next couple of years than anyone could ever imagine.’
However new data also shows that one in six (16.2%) of all UK adults do not drink alcohol.
This is up from the 15.5% in 2014, according to Public Health England (PHE).
On average, alcohol-related harm costs the NHS around £3.5 billion every year.
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