Booze-fulled admissions to casualty have shot up by almost a third in the West Midlands since licensing laws were relaxed to allow round-the-clock drinking, new figures reveal today.
Admissions have gone up from 12,196 in 2004/05 to 16,106 in 2006/07 - an increase of 32 per cent. Data for Dudley Group of Hospitals NHS Trust shows the number of patients treated for conditions caused by drinking has risen by 52 per cent from 617 to 937, in the same period.
Sandwell and West Birmingham NHS Trust experienced the same percentage increase with admission up from 1,796 to 2,727.
Figures for Royal Wolverhampton Hospitals NHS Trust reveal a 22 per cent rise from 501 to 610 admissions, while Walsall Hospital NHS Trust has seen a seven per cent increase from 802 to 858 drink-related illnesses.
Some 323 people were diagnosed with an alcohol-related condition by medics for Mid Staffs General Hospital NHS Trust, compared to 268 the previous year.
Admissions went up by 72 per cent from 861 to 1,482 according to data for Worcestershire acute Hospitals NHS Trust; from 48 to 50 in the South Staffordshire Healthcare NHS Trust area; and Shrewsbury and Telford Hospitals NHS Trust recorded a 21 per cent increase from 945 to 1,143 in the last two years.
The data, obtained by the Conservatives from the Department of Health, shows admissions nationally jumped by 26 per cent from 128,000 to 162,000.
Shadow home affairs minister James Brokenshire said: “These figures put in stark focus the real cost of excessive alcohol consumption and the pressures faced by hospital casualty departments.
“It highlights just how cavalier and irresponsible the Government were in introducing 24-hour drinking with virtually every corner shop and petrol filling station now holding a booze license and with big retailers selling alcohol around the clock.”
He called for action to curb cheap alcohol sales, tougher enforcement of under-age purchases and targeted taxation on products most closely associated with binge drinking.
Last month, ministers admitted the new laws had only been a partial success.
4 Comments
Anyone with a ounce of brain could forcast that bringing in 24 hour boozing would create a drunken epedemic
especially in the younger generation who lack any commonsense to know any better.
This country already had a issue with drunken behavour prior to 24hr drinking. Lets face it, if the was a large street fight taking place, only a total idiot would throw box of knives into the middle of it!.
Never, in the history of this country was so much irreversible damage done to so many, by so few.
In its 11years this government has erradicated everything that was decent, they have destroyed everything
Its not even our own country any longer.! If they put half as much effort into resolving the real issues as they have into banning smoking (I am a non smoker BTW) we may get some where. They mess about with everything, except tackling the real problems, which they themselves caused or made worse in the first place
I feel really sorry for the hospital staff who have to tolerate these government trained unruly drunken louts. Sadly, it will only get worse in the country.
I used to work in the pub trade and even now, don’t know where to drink in a pub around the clock to make 24 hours of drinking. Not that I’d want to.
So, where is this 24-hour stuff going on?
Nail…Head….On…
There are pubs in London, Birmingham and other main cities, including Blackpool which are open 24hrs. Many pubs do not apply for the 24hr license simply because it would not be financially viable to remain open. I think the issue in the UK is more to do with the fact that young people are more inclined to deliberately go out with the sole intention of getting drunk rather than merely to have a normal social drink. Indeed I would suggest that most tend to judge how good a night they had by how drunk they were. IOW Cannot remember the night before so I must have had a good night out!
Pathetic individuals!