Alcohol abuse cases on increase

By [corson]

A rising number of people are being admitted to Lincolnshire's hospitals because of alcohol abuse.

New NHS figures show that 1,387 county patients were admitted in 2007/8 with long-term conditions such as cirrhosis of the liver or were admitted via A&E with booze-related injuries.

This compares to 1,337 the previous year.

And NHS figures taken from the past five years reveal a marked increase in the number of alcohol-related conditions requiring inpatient treatment.

Because of the county's poor record with booze-fuelled ill health and crime, NHS Lincolnshire invested a record £1.5m into tackling problem drinking in 2008/9.

The trust is expected to announce shortly that this investment will rise to £2m in 2009/10.

Of last year's casualties, 60 were youngsters under the age of 18.

Scott Watkinson from Lincolnshire Drug and Alcohol Services said many initiatives had been introduced over the past year to target a revolving door of problem drinkers being admitted to hospital.

This includes the introduction of three alcohol liaison nurses based at hospitals in Lincoln, Boston and Grantham who work across all departments to signpost patients whose injuries and illnesses are caused by alcohol into treatment.

Mr Watkinson said: "The nurses have been with us just coming up to six months trying to get people into treatment and therefore reducing the burden on the NHS caused by alcohol.

"We have really only just begun and figures such as these are a benchmark for us to work with."

For the full story see Wednesday's Lincolnshire Echo.