Alcohol misuse imposing substantial burden on NHS in Orkney
19 March 2010
The misuse of alcohol is imposing a substantial burden on the resources of the NHS in Orkney, says Rhoda Grant, Labour’s Highlands and Islands spokesperson on health.
To raise awareness of the extent of the drain on the NHS in Orkney, Mrs. Grant released figures today, from government sources, that estimate the cost last year of alcohol harm to four services in NHS Orkney .
These were emergency ambulance call outs, Accident and Emergency attendances, outpatient appointments, and hospital beds occupied those with alcohol related conditions.
In total it is estimated that the cost of emergency ambulance call outs, Accident and Emergency attendances, outpatient appointments, and hospital beds occupied those with alcohol related conditions came to over £580,000
Mrs. Grant said: "These bleak figures illustrate the immense strain that drinking excessive amounts of alcohol is putting on the NHS by consuming vital hospital and ambulance services.
"Just as attitudes and habits towards smoking have changed so must they change towards alcohol.
"Moderate drinking is both pleasant and socially acceptable. Heavy drinking is neither, and its inevitable consequence is serious damage to health.
"As Parliament considers how to regulate the drinks industry, Scottish Labour has already established its Alcohol Commission that is looking at a range of reasonable and efficient alternatives that would tackle alcohol over-consumption in Scotland and which could include alternative pricing mechanisms."
Ambulance emergency call outs
There were 824 emergency ambulance call outs in NHS Orkney last year.
Government research indicates that 25 per cent of all such ambulance call outs are alcohol-related.
The average cost of an emergency ambulance call out is £298.
The estimated annual cost of alcohol misuse to the NHS in the NHS Orkney area in 2008-09 to ambulance resources is
25 per cent of 824 x £298 = £61,308 or approximately £ 61,000
The estimated annual cost of alcohol misuse to the NHS in the NHS Orkney area in 2008-09 to ambulance resources is £61,000
Accident and Emergency attendances
There were 3,426 attendances at A&E in NHS Orkney last year.
Government research indicates that 25 per cent of all such attendances are alcohol-related.
Estimated annual cost of the misuse of alcohol to A&E resources is :
3,426 x 25 per cent x £100 = £ 85,650 ( or approximately £85,000)
The estimated annual cost of the misuse of alcohol to A&E resources in Orkney is £85,000
Outpatient attendances
The number of outpatient attendances in NHS Orkney last year was 3,286
Government research indicates that 10 per cent of all such attendances are alcohol-related.
The average cost of an outpatient attendance is £112
The estimated annual cost of alcohol misuse to outpatients resources is :
3,286 x 10 per cent x £112 = £36,803 ( or approximately £ 36,000)
The estimated annual cost of alcohol misuse to outpatients resources in Orkney is £36,000
Beds occupied by those with alcohol -related conditions
The number of days last year that acute hospital beds in NHS Orkney were occupied by those with an alcohol-related condition where alcohol was either a primary or secondary factor was 704.
The average cost of occupying a bed in an acute hospital is £569 a day.
The cost of alcohol misuse from the hospitalisation of those with alcohol -related conditions ( either a primary and secondary diagnosis ) to hospital bed resources in NHS Orkneylast year is estimated by
the number of occupied bed days x the average cost of a bed day
= 704 x £569 = £400,576 ( or approximately £400,000 )
The cost of alcohol misuse from the hospitalisation of those with alcohol-related conditions ( either a primary and secondary diagnosis ) to hospital bed resources in NHS Orkney last year is estimated at £400,000
These estimates deal only with these four services and do not take account of the cost of alcohol excess to
*psychiatric bed use,
prescribed drugs,
*laboratory testing.
Neither do they taking into account the number of GP consultations for alcohol abuse. The latest annual Scotland-wide figure is 102,000.
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