Frontline services

Did you know that drinking too much, too often is having a huge impact on our frontline services? From police and paramedics to A&E staff and the fire brigade, they are all suffering at the hands of alcohol.

It takes precious time away from dealing with other serious crime, injuries and illness. It is resource intensive. It is costly.

But what does that mean to me? For the general public this essentially means that less time and resources are available. Treatment and services for alcohol related hospital admissions and A&E visits are costly and take time and expense away from others.  

It is also costing you and your community 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.

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

Did you know?

• The annual cost of alcohol-related crime and licensing in the North East is estimated to be somewhere in the region of £361-599 million.

• In 2009/10 the North East Ambulance Service recorded 10,063 ambulance journeys where alcohol was a factor, almost twice as many cases as all other drug overdoses combined.

• More than a third of offenders being supervised by the National Offender Management Service in the North East are believed to be alcohol dependent.

You can read more facts and figures on alcohol and its impact on frontline services here.