Alcohol Harm

Alcohol harm has wide-ranging impacts on individuals, their family and wider society. There are over one million hospital admissions relating to alcohol each year and alcohol-related deaths have increased, with poorer communities disproportionately affected.

Helping people who are struggling with alcohol-dependency and their families should be a key public health priority. Yet analysis by the Health Foundation reveals that drug and alcohol services in England have seen their budgets cut in real-terms by 21% since 2015/16. And funding for young people’s addiction services has been cut by 37% since 2013/14.

The Royal College of Psychiatrists has described these cuts as a “false economy”, as more people end up presenting to already overstretched A&E departments for treatment relating to alcohol-dependency.

I am concerned that addiction services have been left underfunded, overwhelmed and underappreciated for the critical work they do in improving the lives of vulnerable people in our society.

The Government’s Health and Care Act, which became law earlier this year, was absent of any proposals to tackle alcohol harm. I supported an amendment to the legislation that would have required Ministers to publish an annual statement about the spend and impact of alcohol treatment funding. Disappointingly, the amendment was defeated by Government MPs.

Alcohol is linked to 200 different diseases and injuries, including heart disease, liver disease and stroke. And it costs the NHS £3.5 billion every year.

I am pleased the Opposition has set out a 10-year plan for change and modernisation of our health service; expanding the NHS workforce and shifting the balance of resources to focus on prevention. An effective public health strategy must have prevention at its core and seek to address widening health inequalities in our society.

I support a holistic approach to public health – and within that stronger proposals to tackle alcohol harm – to ensure that specialised alcohol treatment services can deliver for their communities.