London has seen the biggest decline in alcohol-related hospital admissions over the past five years according to a new study from Private Rehab Clinic Delamere.
The new UK Drug Addiction 2022 report from the team at Delamere has analysed data from pre-pandemic to current, to reveal the impact COVID-19 had on alcohol hospital admissions.
In England and Wales hospital admissions for alcohol-related issues have seen a dramatic 70% decrease since the beginning of the pandemic back in 2020.
Taking the top spot as the region that saw the biggest decrease in admissions since 2016, was London. Back in 2016, the densely populated region had a huge 104,770 alcohol-related issues in hospitals. By 2021 that number has decreased by 74% to just 26,600.
Taking second place on the list was the North West of England, which saw a 73% decrease in hospital admissions to 35,560 in 2021.
Yorkshire and Humber landed in third place, the region had 25,980 alcohol-related hospital admission by 2021 – that’s a 71% decrease from 2016.
Catherine Carney, Delamere’s psychiatrist and addiction specialist, says of the findings:
“On the face of it, a decrease in alcohol-related hospital admissions appears to be a positive outcome. However, upon deeper inspection, it’s clear that this is not necessarily the case.
“During the pandemic, ready access to health and social care was much more restricted — this meant routine hospital services were also very restricted.
“In order to prioritise access to hospital beds for those fighting COVID-19, other health services were replaced with telephone or online consultations — or postponed entirely. In addition, hospital staff were redeployed or limited in their abilities due to a stark increase in their workload.
“In this context, it’s also worth noting that alcohol deaths throughout the UK rose to an all-time high in 2020. From this statistic alone, it’s clear that the dramatic decline in alcohol-related hospital admissions sadly had fatal consequences for far too many people.”
