Alcohol

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The annual impact of excessive drinking in the UK:f alcohol

  • 28,000 deaths per year

  • 65% of suicide attempts

  • 20-30% of all accidents

  • 60-70% of domestic assaults by men

  • 50% of child protection cases

  • 8 million working days lost per year

  • 2nd most common proven cause of cancer

  • Costs the NHS £2 billion annually

  • In primary care, excessive drinkers present twice as often as other patients and is said to constitute 20% of all patients.

  • In terms of years lost to poor health and premature death, excessive drinking is the 3rd most important risk factor after smoking and raised blood pressure, and more important than high cholesterol levels and obesity. Its contribution to ill-health and premature death is 3 times larger than diabetes and 5 times larger than asthma.

We have been asked by the Department of Health to try to address this problem so will be inviting new patients to complete a questionnaire and Invites those patients who are drinking more than is safe to try and address the problem.

For others you are welcome to assess yourselves:

If you feel you have a problem and would like help please contact us, particularly if your risk is over 20 using the AUDIT screening tool

Page last updated June, 2009