24hr drinking sees casualties up
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.
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.
