Yahoo News People in Newcastle twice as likely to be hospitalised due to alcohol than in Leeds or Sheffield
People in Newcastle are up to twice as likely to be hospitalised due to alcohol than in other major English cities.
Tyneside health officials have called for action to combat a Geordie booze problem, with stark figures laying bare the impact of drinking. Alice Wiseman, Newcastle’s public health director, told colleagues on Monday that half of the city’s population is “drinking in a way that is harmful” and shared major worries about the amount of alcohol people consume in their own homes.
The number of alcohol-specific hospital admissions in Newcastle increased from 2,050 in 2016/17 to 2,968 in 2022/23 – a 45% jump. That means that Newcastle has a rate of 1,152.3 alcohol-specific hospital admissions per 100,000 people, the highest of England’s core cities, according to data presented to the city’s health and wellbeing board.
By contrast, Leeds has a rate of 553.4 and Sheffield 557.7. Newcastle’s figure is also notably higher than the likes of Manchester (842.3), Birmingham (773.4), and Nottingham (773.2).
The city also has higher rates of admission episodes for alcohol-specific conditions among under 18s – 34.4 per 100,000 compared to a national average of 26 per 100,000. Ms Wiseman told Monday afternoon’s board meeting that alcohol causes seven types of cancer and there is “no safe level of drinking”.
She reported that the Covid-19 pandemic had led to an increase in the level of alcohol-related harm being suffered and that had shown no sign of slowing since – pinpointing an escalation in drinking at home, rather than socially, as her main cause for concern and calling for alcohol to be taken as seriously as tobacco is. The public health chief added that people in some of Newcastle’s most deprived areas are the worst-hit – with parts of Byker and Walkergate showing the worst levels of hospital admissions due to alcohol, of between 2,400 and 2,600 per 100,000.
Yvonne Probert, of Healthwatch Newcastle, compared the city to her experience of Edinburgh – highlighting the prevalence of bottomless brunches and multibuy deals in North East shops compared to those in Scotland, where the minimum alcohol price is set to rise from 50p to 65p per unit. Newcastle Hospitals’ director of communications and corporate affairs, Caroline Docking, highlighted the “extra pressure” put on the city’s NHS as a result of intoxicated people attending festivals in the city’s parks.
Jon Ridley, deputy principal of Newcastle College, warned that Newcastle would have to “change our identity” from the “party city” culture long associated with Tyneside and backed the idea of a city-wide taskforce being set up to combat alcohol abuse. Ms Wiseman replied that the “real problem” was in-home drinking and the availability of cheap booze from shops, which she hoped could be tackled through the introduction of minimum pricing in England.
A report to the health and wellbeing board sarsres that a 50p minimum unit price in the North East could prevent 1,970 deaths in the next 20 years, reduce hospital admissions by 3,255 per year, and save the NHS £8.4 million annually.
Recent research showed that the harm caused by alcohol is costing the North East nearly £1.5 billion per year in its combined impact on the NHS, social care services, crime, and the economy. North East alcohol programme Balance recently launched a new campaign, coinciding with the start of Euro 2024, to highlight the “toxic” effects of drinking and how it can cause various cancers – including bowel, breast, mouth and throat cancer.
