by EWAN LAMB
Alcohol related attendances at Borders General Hospital's emergency department [ED] plummeted by almost 50 per cent in 2020/21, but the overall cost of damage and harm caused by excessive drinking in the region is estimated at £30.5 million annually, according to a new report.
Scottish Borders Alcohol Profile 2021 was prepared for members of the local licensing board. The document includes an array of statistics related to alcohol consumption and its knock-on impacts. Here are a few of the numbers:
*In Scottish Borders, nearly 1 in 3 men (31%) and more than 1 in 6 women
(18%) were drinking at hazardous/harmful levels (2016/19).
*597 alcohol-related
hospital stays in Scottish Borders during 2019/20 financial year. 15
alcohol-specific deaths in Scottish Borders in 2019.
*Seven child protection cases in
Scottish Borders where parental alcohol or drug problematic use was involved
(2019 July snapshot).
*Scottish Borders has an alcohol outlet availability lower
than Scotland as a whole, but has pockets of high availability.
*The annual cost
of alcohol related harm to Scottish Borders (health, social care, crime and
productive capacity) was £30.5m (£270 per person).
*There are areas in the
Scottish Borders that are more negatively affected by alcohol related harm than
others (Hawick Central, Burnfoot, Peebles North, Galashiels North).
"Violence recording indicates an “Alcohol” marker as a clearly defined aggravator to indicate where the presence of alcohol is deemed a factor in the act of violence. Of the 1009 recorded crimes of violence for the 2019-20 period, a total of 235 had the alcohol marker attached to the crime report. Of that total 107 were in residential locations leaving 128 acts of violence in a public space where alcohol featured. . Galashiels, Hawick, Kelso, Selkirk and Peebles are the areas most frequently affected."
The evidence on the health factors associated with drinking heavily is laid out in detail. There were 414 attendances to the ED in BGH that were alcohol related during 2020-21. This total was 49% lower than the previous year’s 839 attendances.
"Attendances were highest in July, August and September. The lowest months were January, February, April and May which coincides with national lockdowns due to the COVID-19 pandemic. When compared with the last two years’ averages, the rate of ED alcohol attendances (per 1000 population) for 2020-21 has reduced by 51%. However, the split by age group retained a similar pattern with 18 to 24 age group being the highest. Residents of the most deprived areas were more than 6 times likely to attend ED due to alcohol compared to residents living in the least deprived areas of Borders."
And the report warns: "In Scotland there is an increasing rate of alcoholic liver disease hospital stays. Scotland’s rate has increased by 45% from 83 in 1997/98 to 128 in 2019/20. The trend in Borders is also similar with rates increasing from 54 in 1997/98 to 83 in 2019/20 (an increase of 54%). In Borders there were 21 new acute inpatients in 2019/20 with alcoholic liver disease. This compares to an average of 18.2 new inpatients between 2007/08 and 2019/20."
According to Scottish Health Survey (2016/2017/2018/2019 combined), 24% of all adults (aged 16 and over) in Borders were drinking above low risk guidelines (14 units per week) which is the same as the Scottish average.
In all health boards, a higher proportion of men than women drank out with the guidelines. The proportion of males drinking at harmful levels in Borders had a significant drop from 38% (2012/15) to 31% (2016/19). Scotland’s male population drinking at harmful levels remained fairly stable (from 36% to 33%). There is minimal change in the proportion female population drinking at harmful level from 2012/15 (17% Scotland; 16% Borders) to 2016/19 (16% Scotland; 18% Borders).
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