England – new report finds A&E admission dubble due to alcohol.
In the last nine years, hospital visits caused be alcohol have risen by more than 50% in the England, with the highest rate among young women, new figures have shown.
Statistics published by the Nuffield Trust, an independent body which aims to improve health care in the UK, also showed that the rate of people attending emergency departments with probably alcohol poisoning has doubled in six years.
Over nine years those admitted to hospital because of alcohol consumption rose by 63.6 per cent. Rates of alcohol-related A&E admission were higher in the North of England, and more than three and a half times higher in the 20% most deprived areas in England.
Researchers set out to study whether hospital activity linked to alcohol in England had increased, and to pinpoint socio-economic, demographic and regional patterns.
The true figures are likely to be more extreme, as the team assessed measures of hospital activity specific to alcohol, excluding conditions where alcohol was a contributing factor, such as falls, domestic violence or heart disease.
Joint author of the report Claire Currie said:
Our research has uncovered a picture of rising and avoidable activity in hospitals, representing a stark challenge for the health service at a time when it’s already great pressure.
The symptoms of alcohol poisoning include confusion, vomiting, seizures, slow breathing, and cold, clammy pale-bluish skin caused by a drop in body temperature, according to the NHS.