Concerning information about the level of alcohol consumption and the normalisation of excessive drinking has been reported in relation to the UK. This comes from the Government’s Office for Health Improvement & Disparities, which has released new official statistics showing that in 2019/20, the National Health Service was hit with nearly one million alcohol-related hospital admissions.
This represents the third consecutive annual rise in alcohol-related hospital admissions, up from 938,623 in 2018/19, 870,082 in 2017/18 and 841,761 in 2016/17.
In particular, the 976,425 broad alcohol-related hospital admissions in 2019/20 represent a staggering rate per 100,000 people of 1,815.
These data take into account hospital admissions where either the primary diagnosis or one of the secondary diagnoses is an alcohol-related condition, painting a very clear picture of how impactful alcohol is on determining whether the patient has to actually be admitted into hospital.
Delving more deeply into the figures, men make up the vast majority of these hospital admissions; with the number of alcohol-related admissions for men being almost three times the figure for women, 713,550 and 262,875 respectively.
Once again it is people living in the country’s most deprived areas who are being admitted into hospital, with a rate of 2,274 per 100,000 compared to if you lived in a least deprived area where the alcohol-related admission rate sits at just 1,401 per 100,000.
The alcohol-related admission rate in East Devon for example is 1,048 per 100,000 compared to 4,067 per 100,000 in Southampton adding fuel to the North/South divide debate.
Alcohol-addiction experts UKAT have analysed the data in more detail and this revealed that the top ten areas with the highest alcohol-related hospital admissions are all in the North of England. Additionally, the admission rate has worsened since the previous year.
The outcome of the analysis is outlined in the table below:
| Area | Number of alcohol-related hospital admissions 2019/20 | Rate per 100,000 in 2019/20 |
| Southampton | 8,088 | 4,067 |
| Salford | 6,354 | 2,953 |
| Blackpool | 3,947 | 2,804 |
| Stoke-on-Trent | 6,522 | 2,797 |
| Hartlepool | 2,582 | 2,787 |
| Liverpool | 11,485 | 2,729 |
| South Tyneside | 4,106 | 2,665 |
| Sunderland | 7,246 | 2,602 |
| Newcastle Upon Tyne | 6,274 | 2,599 |
| Manchester | 8,998 | 2,589 |
Nuno Albuquerque, Head of Treatment at the alcohol addiction experts UKAT tells Digital Journal: “The NHS was crippled to the tune of nearly one million alcohol-related hospital admissions in 2019/20; the third consecutive annual rise. Clearly, we are a society dangerously infatuated with alcohol, especially those living in the North.
Albuquerque goes on to state that greater government and voluntary sector action is required.
