Banburyshire sees increased hospital admissions for alcohol use as people turned to drink during Covid

Statistics for Cherwell show that 186 people aged 65 and over and 270 people aged 40 – 64 were admitted to hospital for directly alcohol-related conditions in 2021 – 2022. These did not include conditions such as cancers, stroke, heart disease and depression which can be caused or exacerbated by alcohol.

For West Northamptonshire, the figures were 554 hospital admissions in people over 65 and 1,018 involving people aged 40-64 years-old.

Nuno Albuquerque, Head of Treatment for the Banbury Lodge, the drug and alcohol rehabilitation clinic, said “The Covid-crisis was difficult for everyone, but for the elderly we’re now seeing how much it really affected their mental and physical health.

"Turning to alcohol as a way to cope with the loneliness and fear that 2020 brought is something that many people did, but for those age over 65 in particular, a large proportion in the region are now requiring help for their alcohol use.

“We’re also very concerned about those in the 40-64 age bracket- males in particular- whose alcohol problems are getting to the level where hospital admission is necessary.

"If they have to be kept in hospital, their problem is likely to be serious. Our concern is who is looking after them when they leave hospital? Are they getting access to the local alcohol support services they need to prevent further health problems? Or will they be left to fend for themselves and ultimately end up back in hospital with the same - if not worsened - problems?”

Alcohol consumption is a contributing factor to hospital admissions and deaths from a diverse range of conditions. Alcohol misuse is estimated to cost the NHS about £3.5 billion per year and society as a whole £21 billion annually.

A spokesman for UK Addiction Treatment Centres (UKATC) said: “These new figures are based on what Public Health England define as a 'narrow' measure, which means the numbers only relate to admissions where the primary diagnosis is an alcohol-related condition, such as ethanol poisoning, alcoholic liver disease, excess alcohol blood levels, alcoholic cardiomyopathy and mental and behavioural disorders due to use of alcohol, to name a few.

"This makes these figures extra-concerning, as they are extremely specific to alcohol related ill-health, not just the broader impact that alcohol can have on health."

Between March 2020 and March 2021, there was a 58.6 per cent increase in the proportion of respondents drinking at increasing risk and higher risk levels. This data shows a step-change around the time the pandemic began, where the prevalence of increasing risk and higher risk drinking increased and then continued to be higher than previous years throughout the pandemic year.

Wider figures released by Public Health England reveal that over 12,000 people living in the South East aged 65 and over were hospitalised in 2021/22 - the year following the global pandemic - for primary alcohol related conditions..

A further 18,570 people aged 40 - 64 years were also hospitalised for primary alcohol-related conditions during the same period.

This gives a total of 31,036 people aged over 40 in the South East who were hospitalised in the year following the Covid-crisis.

UKATC offers 24/7 confidential help and guidance for alcohol misuse.