New Local Alcohol Profiles for England reveal national patterns of alcohol abuse & abstention

THE updated Local Alcohol Profiles for England (LAPE 2011) are released by the North West Public Health Observatory, based in the Centre for Public Health at Liverpool John Moores University. The profiles contain 25 alcohol related indicators for every local authority and 22 for every primary care trust in England. As well as local area data on alcohol-related hospital admissions and alcohol related crime, the 2011 profiles include new experimental data on levels of abstainers in each local authority and the proportion of drinkers who drink at lower, increasing and higher health risk levels.

Key findings from the profiles:-

► There is a wide variation across England in levels of admissions to hospital relating to alcohol. Annual rates ranged from 3114.3 admissions per 100,000 residents in Liverpool to 849.5 per 100,000 in the Isle of Wight. Total admissions for England have increased to 1,056,962 (2009/10); an increase of 879 alcohol-related admissions a day compared to five years ago.

► There are now more than 6 million individuals over the age of 16 in England who do not drink alcohol. Patterns of abstention relate strongly to ethnicity meaning estimates for abstaining[1] adults range from 6.4% of adults in Mid Devon to 48.0% in Newham and 35.4% in Brent.

► Over the 5 years to 2009/10 there has been a 24.6% increase in the number of people being admitted to hospital due to conditions only caused by alcohol[2]. The highest rates are reported in Liverpool where the rate for men (1082.4 per 100,000) is 7.8 times higher than in Wokingham (138.1 per 100,000), and the rate for women in Liverpool (517.4 per 100,000) is 16.5 times higher than in the City of London (31.4 per 100,000).

► Across England, there were 392,787 recorded crimes attributable to alcohol1 in 2010/11; equivalent to 7.6 crimes per 1,000 population. The highest rates of alcohol-attributable crime occur in the London region, where there were 11.7 crimes per 1,000 residents, although the number of crimes has decreased by 2.8% from 2009/10. The region with the lowest rates for alcohol-attributable crimes was North East (5.7 per 1000 residents). Rates in cities such as Southampton, Leeds, Liverpool and Newcastle were 13.1, 9.0, 9.0 and 7.4 per 1,000 respectively.

► Of those people who report that they consume alcohol (i.e. excluding non-drinkers), on average 7.6% are higher risk drinkers1 ranging from 16.1% in Hounslow to 2.5% in Peterborough.

► Between 2007 and 2009 there were 11,198 deaths from chronic liver disease1 in males and 6,429 in females. The number of deaths from chronic liver disease continues to rise steadily and increased by around 8.0% in both males and females between the periods 2003-2005 to 2007-2009. The highest rates were in Blackpool (46.3 per 100,000 for males and 20.9 per 100,000 for females), and the lowest rates were in the City of London (0 per 100,000 for both males and females) and West Somerset (0 per 100,000 for females).

► Trends in alcohol-related harm vary between local authority areas. For instance, 50.0% saw an increase of over 5% in hospital admissions for alcohol-related harm in 2009/10, whilst only 2.1% showed a decrease of over 5% compared to 2010.

Professor Mark Bellis, Director, North West Public Health Observatory commented:- "The scale of damage revealed by these profiles shows that alcohol is a problem for everyone in England. Even those families not directly affected by alcohol related health problems, violence or abuse still pay towards the billions in taxes for the policing, health services and social support required to tackle this national problem. Cheap alcohol is no longer a commodity that this country can afford. This year we looked at where the six and a half million non-drinking adults in England live. Local authorities with the highest levels of abstainers are also more likely to have higher proportions of heavy drinkers. Where such different communities are supposed to come together is hard to imagine, especially when nightlife and so many other social settings typically revolve around high alcohol consumption."

Clare Perkins, Deputy Director, North West Public Health Observatory commented:- "We have been looking at ways of improving access to quality information and intelligence about alcohol through the use of new technologies. As a result this year the Local Alcohol Profiles for England are available as a mobile version and we are also launching the first edition of a regular e-bulletin Alcohol E-shot, bringing together the latest research evidence, policy and media articles related to alcohol. We hope that these tools will support local directors of public health and councils in understanding and reducing the negative impacts of alcohol on their local communities and in monitoring the effectiveness of local and national alcohol strategies to tackle alcohol related harms."

Empty Chairs Recall Road Crash Victims

ROADPEACE North West are inviting those who have been bereaved or injured, together with those who support them, to the remembrance event at the Rankin Steps outside Liverpool Anglican Cathedral, St. James Mount, on Wednesday, 31 August 2011, starting at 2pm.  The day marks the 14th anniversary of the death of Princess Diana in a road crash.  At the ceremony there will be 27 empty chairs, symbolising the 27 people who died on Merseyside’s roads last year. Flowers will be placed on each of the chairs during the ceremony and five doves will be released in memory of loved ones, as each day, on average, 5 people are killed on Britain’s roads.

Liverpool‘s Lord Mayor, Councillor Frank Prendergast, who will attend, said:- "This is always a very poignant and moving event and an opportunity for us to reflect on the fact that too many lives have been lost on our roads. While, thankfully, the number of people killed and injured has decreased in recent years the empty chairs will tell us that last year there were still 27 families locally who were left to grieve and that is 27 too many. As well as an opportunity to remember those who have been lost, it will spur us all to do all we can to make our roads safer."

Pauline Fielding of Roadpeace said:- "We encourage anyone who has been bereaved or injured through a road crash to join us for this remembrance and the chance to talk to and support each other. We are thankful to everyone who has worked so hard to reduce the number of people killed and injured on our roads and we are thankful too for the support we have received. We trust that this important work will continue and the number of crashes will be further reduced."

Head of Merseyside Police's Roads Policing Department Chief Inspector John Hogan said:- "Merseyside Police is committed to making our roads safer for everyone and we are determined to ensure that people who commit offences that threaten people’s lives are prosecuted. We see the devastation that is caused to families by road traffic collisions and we will rigorously pursue motorists if they have caused this misery through careless or dangerous driving. While year on year we have seen a significant reduction in the number of people killed or seriously injured on our roads just one death on the roads is a tragedy and we are determined to see more lives saved. We work hard alongside our partners to see that the reduction in road casualties continues."

The event will also be attended by dignitaries, representatives of the emergency services and others who deal with road crashes and support road crash victims.  As well as the 27 people killed, 484 were seriously injured in Merseyside last year, a reduction from 2009 when 46 were killed and 500 seriously injured. Nationally there were 1857 reported road deaths in 2010, 365 fewer than the previous year.  Over the past decade, those reported to have been killed and seriously injured has almost halved and that is a 49% decrease.  The Roadpeace helpline number is:- 0845 4500 355 and further information is available from:- roadpeace.org.

MAN CHARGED FOLLOWING ASSAULT IN FLEET STREET, LIVERPOOL

MERSEYSIDE Police have confirm that following a serious assault in Fleet Street, Liverpool, on Saturday, 20 August 2011, a man has been charged with Section 18 wounding.

Laurence Richard McGinn, aged 28, of Dalemeadow Road (L14), appeared before Liverpool City Magistrates Court on Monday, 22 August 2011. He was remanded in custody to appear at Liverpool Crown Court on 28 November 2011.

A second man, aged 27, from the Toxteth area (L8) of Liverpool, was also arrested in connection with the assault and is currently on Police Bail pending further enquiries.

The victim, who is 31 years old and from the Wavertree area (L15) suffered serious facial injuries during the assault, which happened in the street at around 6.15am on Saturday morning. He remains in hospital where he is undergoing treatment.

Merseyside Police applied for the licence of the Funky Box club in Fleet Street to be suspended. The licensing authority in Liverpool granted that application and suspended the licence with immediate effect. A full licence review hearing will take place in September 2011.

City Centre Neighbourhood Inspector, Mark Morgan, said of the licence suspension:- "Merseyside Police takes a zero tolerance approach to crime and violence in the city centre to ensure it remains a safe place for people to enjoy."