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Press Releases
Alcohol-related hospital admissions among under-25s in England a third higher than previously thought
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New figures obtained by Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Radio 1's Newsbeat reveal that the
number of under-25s in England ending up in hospital because of
excessive drinking is more than a third higher than previously
thought.
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The figures released by the North West Public Health Observatory,
which collates figures for the Department of Health (DoH), show
that 53,844 people under the age of 25 in England alone were
admitted to hospital due to alcohol related problems in 2006-07,
which compared to 32,928 under the old methodology for the same
year.
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In the past, statistics mainly took into account issues like
alcohol poisoning, liver disease and alcohol-related mental and
behavioural disorders but did not include some of the big alcohol-related injuries.
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The new DoH methodology measures a total of 44
conditions which research shows are caused by or strongly
associated with alcohol consumption including road traffic
accidents and assaults.
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It is estimated that the NHS in England alone spends Β£2.7billion
per year on alcohol-related hospital admissions.
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Newsbeat's Health Reporter, Tulip Mazumdar, spends a night at
Leeds General Infirmary where doctors deal with more than 100
drunk people on an average weekend.
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She witnesses at first hand the immense strain alcohol related
admissions are having on Accident and Emergency services and also
speaks to medics about their experiences.
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Doctor Philip Morgan, who works in the A&E department at Leeds General Infirmary, describes the
average weekend as "carnage".
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"A pretty good word for it would be carnage, I suppose. Drunk
people can wander in front of cars or buses. They can get in to
fights when they wouldn't normally be the type of person to. They
can fall off balconies in nightclubs or fall down stairs," he
says.
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In the short time Newsbeat spent at Leeds General Infirmary a
number of intoxicated teenagers had to receive treatment after
drinking to excess.
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Many had to have their airways cleared
because of fears they would choke on their own vomit and one drunk
man, being treated for head injuries after getting into a fight,
was arrested for aggressive behaviour towards medical staff.
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"We are using our doctors and nurses to look after the drunk
people when we should really be looking after people who are in
pain, who are injured through no fault of their own...
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"You don't
need masses more alcohol if you are already feeling drunk, you
need to set yourself a limit and stick to it," says DrΜύMorgan.
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Notes to Editors
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Any use of the above should be credited to Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Radio 1's Newsbeat.
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Tulip Mazumdar special report will go out on Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Radio 1's
Newsbeat on Monday 1 September 2008.
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In Conjunction with Radio 1's Alcohol experiment. See
bbc.co.uk/radio1.
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PH
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