30% of Altnagelvin A&E visits booze related

Health Minister Edwin Poots said an analysis conducted in 2009 showed one in three people turning up in casualty were there as a result of drink.

He was asked by DUP MLA Mervyn Storey what analysis he had carried out of the impact of patients’ excessive alcohol intake on the pressures on A&E Departments.

Mr Poots replied: “A study undertaken at Altnagelvin Hospital in 2009 indicated that around one third of all attendances had a direct link to alcohol.

“Studies in England and Scotland have sought to quantify the proportion of emergency department visits which are linked to alcohol misuse but these estimates showed a wide degree of variation.

“The Scottish Government has estimated that 25 per cent of all attendances at emergency departments are alcohol related. “The alcohol consumption of people attending emergency departments, particularly those who accompany patients, can often result in nuisance and disturbance behavior which affects both staff and patients.”