Women move up boozing league

Although drunks tying up hard-pressed NHS facilities are a problem generally, Harrogate has one of the highest levels nationally – making alcohol abuse in local hotspots such as The Stray a major cause for concern, councillors will be told.

In October 2009, figures were produced by the North West Public Health Observatory (NWPHO) which showed that during 2008 the Harrogate district had a high level of hospital admissions due to people hitting the bottle. Compared to other local authorities in England, Harrogate also had a particularly high rate of female and under-18 admissions due to drink, leading Harrogate Council to set up a review team, which has now completed a draft report.

The findings have not been published but show that between 2005 and 2008, 118 Harrogate district residents under 18 were admitted to hospitals for alcohol-specific reasons.

The NWPHO data for all North Yorkshire districts and the City of York, points towards Harrogate district having the highest level of under 18 admissions for alcohol specific reasons: 58 per cent above the regional average.

The data from 2009 shows a 15 per cent drop in underage drinkers needing treatment in 2008. Yet the figure is still significantly higher than the regional and national average.

According to Harrogate District Hospital, between April 2007 and February 2010, 200 people under 17 visited the Accident and Emergency department due to binge drinking. Of these 200 patients, 56 per cent were female. The trend has been underlined by information from Harrogate District Hospital Trust on the number of people turning up in A&E purely because they have drunk too much alcohol.

The Primary Care Trust also believes that the problem will increase massively as the generation of heavy drinkers move through the system and develop more and more alcohol-related health problems, the draft report records.

Further interim findings include data in 2007/08 showing there were 269 admissions per 100,000 of the population of females to hospitals for pure drunkenness.

The rate of female admissions in 2007/08 was proportionately lower than the peak in 2006/07. However; the level of admissions was still six per cent above the national average for England.

This places Harrogate at 286th of 326 in a national league table known as the Rate of Female Alcohol Specific Hospital Admissions per 100,000, 2003-2008.

When compared to other districts in North Yorkshire and York, Harrogate's rate of female admissions for alcohol specific reasons is also very high: 51 per cent above the regional average.

The concern has been heightened by an A & E survey begun by Harrogate Safer Communities Partnership in June 2008, with Harrogate District Hospital asking patients to provide information such as where they purchased their last alcoholic drink.

The National Probation Service in Harrogate has also reported an increase in the number of females who have committed crime while under the influence of alcohol.

Out of the caseload probation officers were dealing with at the end of 2009, nearly 300 were alcohol linked.

A break down of the data also showed binge drinking was at the root of offences in nearly all urban parts of Harrogate.

Harrogate Council stressed yesterday that the report had not yet been agreed.

On Thursday, councillors will be recommended to give the go-ahead to complete the study.

Further work will include gathering additional information, examining projects to address the problem, and to agree the group's final report and recommendations.