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Alcohol hospital admissions lower during pandemic
Today (Tuesday 1 February) Public Health Scotland published Alcohol related hospital statistics for the financial year 2020 to 2021.
The release shows that in 2020/21 the rate of alcohol-related hospital admissions to general hospitals was 614 per 100,000 populations and was 10% lower than the rate recorded during 2019/20 (681 per 100,000). The COVID-19 pandemic and measures put in place to respond to the pandemic are likely to have contributed to the decrease observed in 2020/21. A longer term downward trend in the rate of alcohol-related hospital admissions to general acute hospitals has been observed since 2007/08 when the rate peaked at 855 per 100,000 population.
In response to the figures, Alison Douglas, chief executive of Alcohol Focus Scotland, said, “Although on the surface the lower hospital admissions rate in 2020/21 appears to be good news, it needs to be seen in the context of a significant increase in alcohol specific deaths in 2020. This may suggest that people were not seeking help when they needed it. There have been reports that fewer people were presenting for medical help in general during the pandemic, possibly due to concerns about placing additional demand on the NHS or fears of catching covid while in hospital.
“Helping people to reduce how much they drink must remain a priority, both through the provision of accessible and recovery-oriented support, as well as population level approaches, such as increasing the minimum unit price to 65p per unit, introducing restrictions on alcohol marketing, and reducing the ready availability of alcohol.”
The figures showed
- A longer term downward trend in the rate of alcohol-related hospital admissions to general acute hospitals has been observed since 2007/08 when the rate peaked at 855 per 100,000 population.
- Men were 2.3 times more likely than women to be admitted to general acute hospitals for alcohol-related conditions (851 per 100,000 population compared to 376 per 100,000 population).
- People in the most deprived areas were seven times more likely to be admitted to general acute hospitals for an alcohol-related condition than those in the least deprived areas (968 per 100,000 population compared to 144 per 100,000 population).