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Binge Britain: Huge rise in drink-related hospital admissions since start of 24-hour licences
Last updated at 18:07pm on 01.04.08Alcohol-related hospital admissions have quadrupled in some areas since the introduction of 24-hour drinking.
Official figures show massive increases for many hospitals, including a 242 per cent rise at Alder Hey in Liverpool, which only treats those under 16.
The results did not feature in the Government's official review of the impact of the new laws published last month, which merely claimed the burden on the Health Service was "stable" overall.
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Hangover: The figures obtained by the Conservatives reveal casualty departments have seen huge rises in the number of alcohol-related hospital admissions
In fact, the total number of patients turning up at hospitals with alcohol-related injuries or diseases rose by a quarter between 2005 and 2007. This overall rise conceals far more dramatic increases in some areas.
Two years ago, ministers claimed round-the-clock drinking would usher in a "continental-style" culture and better behaviour.
But police chiefs, judges and medical experts warned it was a recipe for disaster.
The latest figures relate to patients "admitted via A&E where the primary or secondary diagnosis was alcohol related".
Failures: Critics say 24-hour drinking laws are 'irresponsible and cavalier'
Statistics for 258 NHS trusts in England show a rise of 26 per cent from 128,342 in 2004-5 - the last year before pubs were allowed to open around the clock - to 162,080 last year.
The largest increase was seen by Mersey Care Trust, where cases soared from 203 to 847, followed by Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells, which saw admissions leap from 280 to 1,066.
Royal Liverpool Children's NHS Trust, which runs Alder Hey, came third with a rise from 57 to 195 - up 242 per cent. A spokesman for the trust said the increase was simply down to "drunk children", almost three quarters of them girls.
She added: "They are children who most likely have passed out.
"They are normally brought in by their friends - very few come with their parents. And it is usually on Friday and Saturday nights."
Tory Home Affairs spokesman James Brokenshire said: "These figures put in stark focus the real cost of excessive alcohol consumption and the pressure faced by hospital casualty departments."
Reader views (3)
The Police now take drunks to hospital rather than lock them up as there is no room in police cells for them. It is policy. Therefore there is bound to be a rise in the number of drunks appearing at hospitals. There will also have been a concomitant fall in the number of D&Ds taken to the cells.
- Squiz, Islington
More time to drink = more getting drunk. Now, who could have foreseen that happening?
- Paul, London
Where are the parents? England has such strict traffic laws but yet you allow your teenagers to run the country. Send the parents on parenting courses or sterilise the young girls and then send those kids to South Africa for a wake up. England want to ban hoodies, that's a joke, ban the kids that are wearing them!
- Julie, South Africa
