2009 press releases

14th Oct: 131% increase in alcohol related A&E admissions in East Sussex area - Norman Baker

Lewes MP Norman Baker has reacted with shock after it was revealed that there has been a 131% increase in the number of people admitted to A&E wards for alcohol-related reasons in the past six years in the East Sussex area.

In 2007/08, a total of 6,064 went into hospital for alcohol-related reasons in Brighton , and East Sussex Downs and Weald, PCTs - an enormous rise on the total of 2,624 for 2002/03.

The statistics show that:

• In total, there have been 24,520 admissions to Accident and Emergency wards in the East Sussex area in the past six years;
• This includes 729 children under the age of 18.
• The number of people entering A&E has increased in every year since 2002/03, when these statistics were first collected.
• There has been a 67% increase in the number of children taken into hospital for alcohol-related reasons since 2002/03. In 2002/03, 91 people under the age of 18 were taken to hospital for alcohol-related reasons, but in 2007/08, this figure had increased to 152.
• The rate of increase for adults since 2002/03 is 133% - in 2002/03, it stood at 2,533, but by 2007/08, this had increased to 5,912.

Norman Baker commented:

"These shocking figures illustrate how bad many people's relationship with alcohol has become. It is clear that far too many people are overindulging, with alarming consequences.

"There has been an increase in the number of admissions every year since 2002/03, and a 131% increase in just six years is simply shocking. It is particularly concerning that so many children in East Sussex have ended up in hospital because of alcohol.

"The government must do more to educate people about the dangers of alcohol misuse. More must be done to clamp down on irresponsible retailers who continue to supply children with alcohol."

The Parliamentary Question requesting the figures can be reached here.

	Number of admissions by Primary Care Trust
Year	Age	Brighton and Hove City	East Sussex Downs and Weald	Both PCTs
2002-03	Under 18	31	60	91
	18 and Over	1189	1344	2533
	Total	1220	1404	2624
2003-04	Under 18	37	68	105
	18 and Over	1375	1306	2681
	Total	1411	1374	2785
2004-05	Under 18	44	65	109
	18 and Over	1655	1686	3341
	Total	1699	1751	3450
2005-06	Under 18	51	81	132
	18 and Over	1860	2173	4033
	Total	1911	2254	4165
2006-07	Under 18	63	77	141
	18 and Over	<2670/td>	2553	5223
	Total	2733	2631	5364
2007-08	Under 18	73	79	152
	18 and Over	3115	2797	5912
	Total	3188	2876	5912
Overall	Under 18	299	430	729
	18 and Over	11863	11928	23791
	Total	12162	23791	24520

Please note that from 2002/03 until 2005/06, figures for Sussex Downs and Weald and Eastbourne Downs were collected separately. Their totals have been added together for these years for the purposes of this analysis.

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