An estimated 1.22m hospital admissions in England were linked to drinking too much alcohol in 2011-12, according to NHS figures – a 51% rise over the past nine years.
Drug prescriptions to treat alcohol dependency outside hospital are also continuing to go up. Nearly 180,000 prescriptions were dispensed by doctors, nurses and pharmacists in 2012, 6% up in a year and nearly 75% more than in 2003.
Hospital admissions for which drink was the main cause rose to 200,900 in 2011-12, 1% more than the previous year, and more than 40% up on 2002-03.
Men accounted for three in five of the patients whose alcohol consumption was the main reason for admission. Admission rates were highest in north-west England and lowest in the east. > > > > Read More
