BBC, 14 February 2011:The number of admissions to hospital in the UK because of problem drinking could rise to 1.5 million a year by 2015, a charity says.
Alcohol Concern estimates that it will cost the NHS £3.7bn annually if nothing is done to stop the increase... The charity says the number of people being treated in hospital for alcohol misuse has gone from 500,000 in 2002-3 to 1.1 million in 2009-10.
BBC, 26 May 2011:The number of alcohol-related hospital admissions in England has topped 1m for the first time, according to official statistics.
An NHS Information Centre report said admissions had increased by 12% between 2008/9 and 2009/10... The number of admissions reached 1,057,000 in 2009/10 compared with 945,500 in 2008/9 and 510,800 in 2002/3.
Well, the entirely made up figure may be up twelve per cent on the previous year, but at least it's down by four per cent compared to the entirely made up figure of three months ago, eh?
Claptrap
8 hours ago
5 comments:
... and even using the made up figures, the NHS spending due to alcohol will be 1/4 of government revenues from alcohol. Why is the government trying to reduce an activity that it makes shedloads of money from? I suspect it is an excuse to raise alcohol duty while secretly hoping that everybody carries on drinking anyway. Or am I excessively cynical?
Paul, no, you're not excessively cynical.
Being interviewed by the Beeb the estimable Prof. "produces stats from thin air like conjurors produce rabbits from hats" Gilmore took the opportunity to convey - using the politest and most anodyne language he could summon up, thus keeping everything "reasonable, measured" and especially "expert" - that the problem obviously isn't the people who abstain from alcohol (something which he and at least one of the organisations merged to form the splendid UK Alcohol Health Alliance would approve of wholeheartedly - and have as the law actually) - no the problem is that all those people who aren't abstainers well they are all regular piss artists who just can't leave the demon drink alone - ever !
> Professor Sir Ian Gilmore, who chairs the UK Alcohol Health Alliance, told the BBC: "This confirms doctors' impressions that the health harm from alcohol continues to rise. While total alcohol consumption has fallen in recent years it is likely that the number of abstainers in England is increasing, but those who do drink continue to do so in a harmful and destructive way."
and can I also add that, if anyone is in any doubt as to the "veracity" of these figures published today, well the previous shower, when under the guiding hand of the Great Gordo the Determinator (and my he was so often "determined" - it got more mention than "prudence" in his interminable rambles which we will grace with the title "speeches") took steps to sort these stats out - as explained in this G article ...
Alcohol-related hospital admissions four times higher than official figure http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2008/jul/22/health.drugsandalcohol?INTCMP=ILCNETTXT3487
Anyway, no drug, not even alcohol, causes the fundamental ills of society. If we're looking for the source of our troubles, we shouldn't test people for drugs, we should test them for stupidity, ignorance, greed and love of power.
P. J. O'Rourke
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