EXPERTS will be sent into Liverpool to confront problem drinkers after the city was branded the worst in the country for alcohol-linked hospital visits.

The Government “turn-around” teams are also likely to be placed in Wirral, Knowsley, and Halton, which are also among England’s top 10 “booze towns”, according to research.

The specialists will help family doctors and staff in casualty departments identify drinkers at risk of dying young because they are wrecking their health.

They will also offer safe drinking advice in settings such as sexual health clinics, under plans unveiled by Health Secretary Alan Johnson.

The National Alcohol Support Team will be formed to try to rescue a government pledge to stop Merseysiders dying much earlier than people in most of England.

The Liverpool Daily Post revealed in April that a target to cut the huge life expectancy gap between rich and poor areas by 10% by 2010 will be missed on current trends.

In Liverpool, Wirral and Halton the target will be miss-ed for both sexes on current performance, the department of health (DoH) admitted.

In Liverpool, 17.79 men per 1,000 visit hospital every year because of an alcohol-related injury or illness and 11.76 women per 1,000, according to a key study last year.

Between 143 and 195 men and 76 to 136 women die from drink in Liverpool each year, researchers at Liverpool John Moores University found.

Now extra funding from a £34m pot will be directed to Liverpool, Knowsley, Wirral and Halton to identify and help so-called “frequent flyers” – drinkers who end up in hospital several times.

Yesterday, the DoH high-lighted evidence to show that, for every eight people who received brief advice, one red-uced their alcohol intake.

And Mr Johnson said: “We can’t ignore the facts. People living in deprived areas are more prone to drugs and alcohol abuse. We need to recognise and accept that health inequalities are everyone’s business – not just an issue for the NHS, but for government and society as a whole.”

The document, entitled Health Inequalities: Progress and Next Steps, highlights alcohol, smoking and obesity as key “risks that people take with their own health”.

There are up to 22,000 alcohol-related deaths every year in England.

On average, a man loses 20 years of his life while the average woman dies 15 years earlier.

Lord Victor Adebowale, of the charity Turning Point, agreed that quicker access to alcohol treatment was vital to help problem drinkers.

He added: “If they are patched up and sent home, then they are likely to be back soon – as NHS ‘frequent flyers’ who don’t have their problems addressed and cost a lot to the public purse.”

The North-South life expectancy gap is stark.

For example, the average women in Liverpool dies at 78, compared to 87 in leafy Kensington and Chelsea, in central London.

alex.turner