One Kid A Day In London Admitted To Hospital Because Of Booze - Hughes

5.28.19pm BST (GMT +0100) Tue 20th Apr 2004

Liberal Democrat London Mayoral candidate, Simon Hughes, today revealed new figures that show almost one child a day is admitted to hospital in London because of alcohol related problems.

The figures, revealed in a Parliamentary answer to Mr Hughes, show that in 2001-02 in London Boroughs there were 309 cases of children admitted to hospital because of alcohol related problems. By 2002-03, this had increased to 356 - an increase of 15%.

Simon Hughes said:- "Ministers are failing to tackle the growing problem of young people excessively drinking."

"The culture of binge drinking amongst young people, particularly amongst women is damaging their health. Much more needs to be done to alert people to the health risks of excessive drinking."

"The Government delayed their alcohol strategy for six years. The growing number of kids that are being admitted to hospital for alcohol related problems is deeply worrying."

"Binge drinking is not just a major health concern, it is a crime and disorder concern. Kids need better information on how to drink responsibly before they damage themselves, their families and society."

ENDS

Notes to editor

The figures are taken from Parliamentary answer 1st April 2004

Child Alcohol-Related Problems

Simon Hughes: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many children aged between 11 and 15 years were admitted to hospital in (a) Greater London and (b) each London borough owing to alcohol-related problems in each of the last six years. [162349]

Mr. Hutton: Figures are not available by London borough. The table shows data by health authority in the London area.

Primary diagnosis (ICD-10 F10, K70, T51) alcohol related illness. Age on admission 11-15 years. Region of treatment north and south Thames 1997-98 and 1998-99/London 1999-2000 to 2002-03 (see note below). Count of finished admission episodes by health authority of treatment. NHS hospitals, 1997-98 to 2002-03

Finished admission episodes

Health authority of treatment

1997-98

1998-99

1999-2000

2000-01

2001-02

2002-03

QA2 Hillingdon

37

29

12

10

15

8

QA3 Kensington, Chelsea and Westminster

17

8

8

10

10

15

QA4 Enfield and Haringey

17

10

*

*

-

-

QA5 Redbridge and Waltham Forest

9

14

7

7

10

8

QAA Bexley and Greenwich

16

14

29

20

-

-

QAC Bromley

8

7

*

*

-

-

QAD Croydon

12

17

12

17

19

13

QAG Kingston and Richmond

-

-

15

45

47

39

QAH Lambeth, Southwark and Lewisham

40

18

23

15

20

32

QAJ Merton, Sutton and Wandsworth

73

53

58

56

58

67

QAP Barking and Havering

14

14

6

14

16

32

QAQ Barnet

10

7

40

43

-

-

QAR Brent and Harrow

16

13

17

23

16

8

QAT Camden and Islington

21

14

26

19

12

28

QAV Ealing, Hammersmith and Hounslow

7

16

19

13

23

23

QAW East London and The City

7

9

19

9

16

18

QEW Barnet Enfield and Haringey

-

-

-

-

28

38

QEY Bexley Bromley and Greenwich

-

-

-

-

19

27

Regional Total

304

243

297

310

309

356

Notes:

1. Figures are not available for Greater London and each London borough and so data based on health authority (HA) of treatment has been provided. Due to organisational changes, information is given for North Thames and South Thames regional offices in the 1997-98 and 1998-99 data years and the London regional office in the 1999-2000 to 2002-03 data years.

2. Since North and South Thames regions cover a greater area than the London region, HAs clearly outside of London have been omitted from this list (HA Codes QAE, QAF, QAK, QAL, QAM, QAN, QAX, QAY, QEP, QEQ).

3. Data has been derived for 2002-03 based on regions and HAs that existed in 2001-02. This is an attempt to provide continuity in the data provided, but caution should still be applied when looking at trends over time.

4. Figures are grossed for both coverage and missing/invalid clinical data, except for 2001-02 and 2002-03, which are not yet adjusted for shortfalls.

5. The primary diagnosis is the first of up to 14 (7 prior to 2002-03) diagnosis fields in the Hospital Episode Statistics (HES) data set and provides the main reason why the patient was in hospital.

6. Due to reasons of confidentiality, figures between 1 and 5 have been suppressed and replaced with '*'

Source:

Hospital Episode Statistics (HES), Department of Health.