Alcohol ill-health costs £3bn

Drink-related problems are costing the NHS£3bn a year, according to a report from charity Alcohol Concern.

Your Very Good Health says all NHS patients should be regularly screened to check if they are drinking too much, and offered help and advice to reduce their alcohol consumption if they are.

Dr Chris Luke, from Cork University Hospital, who will speak at a conference organised by the charity today in Birmingham, said the health system in Britain would collapse unless lifestyle issues such as excessive drinking were addressed.

'Alcohol is a lifestyle issue which grows with affluence and is continuing to worsen steadily.

Alcohol accounts for one in four acute male admissions and therefore is an incredibly important issue for the NHS.'

The conference is aimed at primary care trusts, which take over commissioning local alcohol services in April. In the report, Alcohol Concern says up to 20 per cent of patients presenting in primary care are likely to drink more than recommended levels - but studies show GPs only detect an average of 10 patients a year.

'GPs need to detect excessive drinkers who may be causing long-term damage to their health for many years without experiencing any symptoms, in order to reduce the burden on the health system, ' the report concludes. It says health professionals will need training to carry out brief interventions to reduce drinking, and support from alcohol services to manage problem drinkers.

The charity says one in six people attending A&E have alcoholrelated injuries or problems - rising to 80 per cent at peak times.

Over 5,000 deaths a year in England and Wales are directly attributable to alcohol - and it is implicated in 33,000 deaths.

Anna Wood, primary care information officer for Alcohol Concern, said: 'Ideally, we would like to see people being regularly screened - probably not every time they attend but every few years, or when they present with a condition which might be alcohol-related.

'By tackling alcohol, they will be helping to meet targets for coronary heart disease, for elderly people and strokes, and for mental health.'

But Dr Chris Drinkwater, public health lead for the NHS Alliance, said: 'A systematic approach around screening runs into issues of capacity, workload and priorities - and resources and funding. I am sure that GP practices would be happy to do this if there were identifiable additional resources, but at the moment they are struggling.'