30.05.14
Prescription drugs to treat alcohol dependency cost NHS £3m
The NHS has spent more than £3m on dispensing prescription drugs to treat alcohol dependency in the last year, new figures from the Health and Social Care Information Centre (HSCIC) have revealed.
The report - Statistics on Alcohol - England, 2014 – also highlighted that more than one million hospital admissions related to alcohol last year, and 65% of adults admitted were men, but more under-16 girls than boys were admitted.
HSCIC’s latest figures also showed the Net Ingredient Cost (NIC) of alcohol dependence drugs in England increased by almost £200,000 to £3.13m in 2013, a rise of 6.7% on 2012 (£2.93m).
In total almost 184,000 prescription items were dispensed in primary care and NHS hospitals in 2013. This was a rise of 3.1% (178,000) on the previous year and a 78.9% rise on 10 years ago (103,000).
Kingsley Manning, chair of HSCIC, said: “The fact there has been a rise of nearly 70% in the prescribing of alcohol dependence drugs over the last decade is striking.”
The data also revealed that north east region recorded the highest rate of alcohol-related admissions (2,500 per 100,000 population) and the south east recorded the lowest (1,500 admissions per 100,000 population).
However, the number of alcohol related deaths in 2012 fell to 6,490, a 4.2% decrease on the 6,770 recorded in 2011. Of these deaths, almost two thirds were caused by alcoholic liver disease (4,080)
A Department of Health spokesperson told NHE: “It's encouraging that the number of alcohol related deaths is falling, but figures remain unacceptably high.
“That's why we are banning alcohol sales below the level of duty plus VAT, meaning it will no longer be legal to sell a can of ordinary lager for less than around 40p. We're also strengthening the ban on irresponsible promotions in pubs and clubs and challenging the industry to increase its efforts through the Responsibility Deal.
“Regional variations in mortality are a major challenge to everyone working in the health system. Local authorities have been given a £5.4 billion public health budget over two years so they can tackle the particular needs of their local communities.”
An NHS England spokeswoman also said that it is important that patients who recognise they have a problem with alcohol get the right treatment. “In many cases, drugs are an effective support for individuals working to reduce or stop drinking but only in conjunction with good support from healthcare professionals,” she added.
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