Ipswich: Drink Admissions to A&E up 10%

16 February 2012, 06:44 | Updated: 16 February 2012, 07:13

Heart is being told by the A and E department at Ipswich Hospital that the number of people going in because of alcohol has gone up by nearly 10% in a year.

It comes after David Cameron announced his plans to tackle binge drinking in the UK, as it is costing the NHS more than 2 billion a year.

Dr David Hartin is consultant and clinical lead in emergency medicine at the Ipswich Hosputal and says 'It is an increasing problem.  In Ipswich between 2009/10 and 2010/11 we saw an increase of nearly 10% in emergency cases that are related to alcohol.'

He also says they are seeing a pattern in the age of people coming in, and it is not just the younger generation who are having to go in for emergency treatment. 

The peaks are between the ages of 15-24 and 40-44.

He says: 'Alcohol related admissions at emergency departments are largely preventable, and unfortunately they hamper the ability of doctors to care for patients who have come to the emergency department with illnesses and injuries are aren't necessarily any fault of their own.'

Dr David Hartin - Ipswich Hospital A and E