Taking control of alcohol-related emergency department visits

Alcohol consumption continues to be a significant contributing factor to hospital admissions and deaths from a diverse range of conditions. Latest Public Health England (PHE) Local Alcohol Profiles for England data1 show that alcohol-related admissions during the year 2015/2016 increased to 2179 per 100 000 admission episodes as compared with 1639/100 000 in 2008/2009. Alcohol-related liver and cardiovascular disease conditions are both increasing and alcohol-related mortality remains high (46.1 per 100 000 in 2015).

Unfortunately, there are no comparable national data for alcohol-related ED attendances in the UK. Irving et al have evidenced that in the UK 12%–15% of ED attending patients are intoxicated.2 As they describe in this issue, a study is under way to provide evidence on whether services, which divert patients away from EDs during peak presentation times, should be widely developed.

The Royal College of Emergency Medicine (RCEM) 'Alcohol Related Harm' Position Statement May 2015

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