Frontline services

Alcohol is putting a huge strain on our front-line services. It is taking precious time away from dealing with other serious crime, injuries and illness. It is resource intensive. It is costly. From police and paramedics to A&E staff and the fire brigade, they are all suffering at the hands of alcohol misuse.

For our frontline staff additional call outs, the abuse they receive and the dangerous situations they are put in are all a consequence of alcohol misuse and for them it is a daily battle.

It’s also costing us financially. With frontline services already suffering cuts, alcohol is only making a difficult situation worse. It is estimated to cost the NHS in England a staggering £2.7 billion – comprising of inpatient and day visits, A&E visits, ambulance services, GP consultations and specialist treatment services.

Here in the North East, the annual cost of alcohol related crime is estimated to be somewhere in the region of £361-599 million. It also costs our region’s NHS around £225 million each year.

Did you know?

• Every eight minutes someone is admitted to one of our hospitals as a result of alcohol.

• Over half of domestic abuse cases handled by police in the region are alcohol related.

• In A&E Departments (A&E) 70% of peak time attendances and 40% of weekend attendances are caused by alcohol.