Safe drinking at the bottle bank

NHS Portsmouth has teamed up with Portsmouth City Council to deliver a sensible drinking message as part of ongoing work to tackle alcohol issues in the city. Stickers are being placed on bottle banks in Portsmouth asking recyclers to 'Check how many units are in your drink'.

The stickers show images of different drinks along with how many units they contain and information about recommended daily limits. In addition there is contact phone number for The Alcohol Interventions Team if people want more information or help with their drinking.

Portsmouth has the highest rate of alcohol related hospital admissions in the South East of England. Approximately 400 people per year end up hospitalised as a result of their drinking, most through long term heavy drinking. In addition to this as many as 14,000 visits per year to A&E, at Queen Alexandra Hospital, are due to alcohol misuse.

Dr Paul Edmondson-Jones, Director of Public Health and Primary Care at NHS Portsmouth, said: "We have to look at every opportunity to provide people with information about sensible drinking. Placing information on bottle banks should be a good way of reaching people that may be drinking more than they realise.

"The information we provide is not preaching to people, it is just highlighting how many units of alcohol are in common drinks and the recommended levels we should not regularly exceed. People can then make an informed choice the next time they take a sip of their favourite tipple."

Vince Venus, Waste Collection Manager for Portsmouth City Council, said: "We are happy to play our part in helping to reduce alcohol related issues in the city. This type of work would not be considered a normal part of our business but we can see that our glass recycling banks provide an ideal location to deliver health messages. We are happy to support NHS Portsmouth with this campaign."