LIVERPOOL’S binge drinking epidemic – widely recognised as the worst in the country – is twice as bad as feared, new hospital admission figures reveal.
They show that 2,682 per 100,000 people end up in casualty because of illnesses caused by alcohol, not the 1,291 per 100,000 put forward in a key study last year.
The 108% increase – calculated by including cancers, heart disease and accidents caused by alcohol consumption – leaves Liverpool top of the English table for hospital admissions.
The fresh analysis also puts Halton (7th place – an 87% rise on the old figures), Knowsley (10th place – a 91% rise) and Wirral (12th place – a 97% rise) among the country’s worst “booze towns”.
And it concludes that nearly 46,000 drinkers across the region end up in hospital each year, with the highest numbers in Liverpool (12,230), Wirral (7,780) and Sefton (5,849).
Furthermore, across the country as a whole, admissions are rising by 10% a year, with the annual bill for alcohol misuse – to the NHS, the police and in lost work hours – put at a staggering £25bn.
The terrifying picture was revealed as the government released a new alcohol strategy, “Changing our Drinking Culture”, seen as putting the industry in the last-chance saloon.
The tougher regulations – amid evidence of widespread abuse of a voluntary code – are likely to include bans on happy hours, discount drinks and extra-large glasses of wine.
Hinting at a move to a mandatory code, public health minister Dawn Primarolo said: “The evidence from the review and hospital admissions data clearly makes this the right time to consult on a far tougher approach to the alcohol industry.”
Last night Dr Alison Giles, from the North West Strategic Health Authority, said health officials were trying to discover why the region has such a high level of binge drinkers through the Big Drink Debate.
The debate ends next month and so far 25,000 people have contributed.
“It is an opportunity for people in the North West to give their views on this topic which is affecting so many of our lives.”
Visit www.bigdrinkdebate.com to take part in the debate.
*Old and new figures are admissions per 1,000 peopleTotal 45,915
