Charity calls for alcohol specialists in hospitals

The Government should invest in alcohol health workers in every hospital if they are serious about cutting alcohol-related admissions, according to Alcohol Concern.

A report from the charity said that alcohol-related hospital admissions are set to rise to 1.5m a year by the end of the year at a cost of £3.7bn.

It said alcohol-related hospital admissions in 2002 stood at half a million and have now doubled, costing the NHS £2.7bn every year.

Alcohol Concern has called for Government to invest in alcohol health workers in every hospital, A&E unit and GP practice.

It believes this will save the NHS £3 for every £1 spent as well as reduce the current level of 15,000 alcohol related deaths per year and 1.2m incidents of violent crime.

"Whereas successful action has been taken to reduce rates of smoking and illegal drugs, successive Governments have failed to act decisively in treating the country's drink problem," said Alcohol Concern chief executive Don Shenker.

"With the Prime Minister saying that NHS is becoming 'increasingly unaffordable', we can show how billions can be saved simply by introducing alcohol health workers in hospitals to help patients reduce their drinking."

He added: "Government must make tackling alcohol misuse a priority for public health, leading to huge savings for the whole country. We need to encourage those who drink too much to realise it and get the help they need.

"As problem drinking costs the country so dear, a modest investment in supporting problem drinkers will lead to a three-fold saving, surely a necessity in an economic downturn."