Alcohol-related A&E attendances and hospital admissions

This sub-section presents data on alcohol-related ambulance attendances and hospital admissions, which may be considered to be objective indicators of increasing levels of drinking in the local population.

Alcohol-specific conditions are those where alcohol is causally implicated in all cases; for example, alcohol-induced behavioural disorders and alcohol-related liver cirrhosis. Alcohol-related conditions include all alcohol-specific conditions, plus those where alcohol is causally implicated in some but not all cases of the outcome; for example, hypertensive diseasesA, various cancers and falls.

Table 9 shows that alcohol-related ambulance attendances in Hackney and the City of London have remained steady since 2010-11.

Figure 13 shows that Hackney’s rate of admissions for alcohol-related unintentional injuries has been consistently higher than the regional average in recent years.  The rate of admissions for mental and behavioural disorders due to use of alcohol is also notably higher in Hackney than London (Figure 14).

 

Table 9: Number of alcohol-related ambulance attendances in Hackney and the City of London
Financial Year City of London Hackney
2010-11 878 2,546
2011-12 866 2,432
2012-13 987 2,553
2013-14 1,032 2,769
2014/15 960 2,416

Source: London Ambulance Service, SafeStats (2016)

Notes: Data represents all ages. Alcohol-related incidents are defined where an alcohol-related illness is recorded or where a reference to alcohol has been found in a search of the various free-text fields recorded by the ambulance service.

Between 2010/11 and 2014/15 the rate for Hackney is consistently higher than the London region average
Figure 13: Rate of admissions for alcohol-related unintentional injuries per 100,000 population (2010/11 to 2014/15)

Source: Local Alcohol Profiles England (LAPE), Hospital Episode Statistics (HES).

Notes: Includes admissions to hospital where the secondary diagnoses is an alcohol-attributable unintentional injuries code. Children aged less than 16 years were only included for alcohol-specific conditions and for low birth weight. For other conditions, alcohol-attributable fractions were not available for children. Directly age standardised rate per 100,000 population European standard population.

Between 2010/11 and 2014/15 the rate for Hackney is significantly higher than for London or England
Figure 14: Rate of admissions for mental and behavioural disorders due to use of alcohol per 100,000 population (2010/11 to 2014/15)

Source: Local Alcohol Profiles England (LAPE), Hospital Episode Statistics (HES).

Notes: Admissions to hospital where the primary diagnosis is an alcohol-attributable mental and behavioural disorders due to use of alcohol code. Children aged less than 16 years were only included for alcohol-specific conditions and for low birth weight. For other conditions, alcohol-attributable fractions were not available for children. Directly age standardised rate per 100,000 population European standard population.

Figure 15 shows lower rates of alcohol-specific hospital admissions in under 18s in Hackney and the City compared to the national average and many statistical peers. Local rates are not statistically different from London but are significantly lower than the national rate.

Hackney and the City have a rate that is lower than most comparable areas and similar to London
Figure 15: Rate of admissions of persons under 18 admitted to hospital for alcohol-specific conditions per 100,000 population (2012-15)

Source: Local Alcohol Profiles England (LAPE), Hospital Episode Statistics (HES)

Table 10 reports the number of Homerton hospital A&E attendances for alcohol-related assault over the past five years.

 

Table 10: Number of Homerton A&E attendances for alcohol-related assault by financial year
Financial Year Number of A&E attendances for alcohol-related assault
2010/11 169
2011/12 272
2012/13 283
2013/14 234
2014/15 210

Source: Homerton hospital A&E data (2016

Notes

  1. A group of disorders that includes heart failure, ischemic heart disease, hypertensive heart disease, and left ventricular hypertrophy (excessive thickening of the heart muscle)