[ad_1]
The number of people drinking at high-risk levels has nearly doubled since shortly before the UK shutdown, experts warned.
An estimated 8.4 million people drank “high risk” amounts of alcohol in June, compared with 4.8 million people four months earlier, the Royal College of Psychiatrists (RCP) said.
The university has expressed concern that many addiction services might not be able to treat the “large number” of high-risk drinkers after being “deprived of funding” for years.
The NHS advises not to regularly drink more than 14 units a week.
Dr Adrian James, chair of the PCR, said the government needed to commit a “substantial” investment in public health to prevent more lives from being “unnecessarily lost” to addiction.
A university report has called on ministers to reverse the cuts and help local authorities work to invest £ 374 million in adult services to address the increased need for treatment.
Dr. James said, “Addiction services have been starved of funds in recent years, which means that many are unable to treat and care for the large number of high-risk drinkers.
“More lives will be lost unnecessarily to addiction unless the government acts now and commits to making a substantial investment in public health, including addiction services for adults, in the spending review.
Professor Julia Sinclair, president of the RCP addiction faculty, said COVID-19 had shown “how stretched, scarce, and ill-equipped addiction services are to treat the growing number of vulnerable people living with this complex disease.”
He added: “There are now only five NHS inpatient units in the country and there is no resource in my region to admit alcohol dependent people with coexisting mental illnesses.”
“Drug-related deaths and alcohol-related hospital admissions were already at record highs prior to COVID-19. I fear that unless the government acts quickly, we will see these numbers rise exponentially.”
Addiction services have been ‘starved’ for years, said the Royal College of Psychiatrists
The NHS says that men and women are advised not to regularly drink more than 14 units per week.
One unit of alcohol is roughly equivalent to half a pint of beer or a single measure (25 ml) of liquor, while a small glass of wine contains about 1.5 units of alcohol.
The British Medical Association’s head of mental health policy, Dr Andrew Molodynski, said the university’s analysis of the numbers was “alarming” but “sadly not surprising”.
He described the increase in people facing addiction problems, along with the lack of adequate services, as “a very dangerous combination” and called for “urgent intervention”.
Molodynski said: “Specific funds should be allocated to local authorities that have suffered cuts for years, to allow them to substantially increase spending on public mental health.”
“Now more than ever, it is crucial that some of this goes to substance abuse services, as the impact of isolation coupled with the potential impact of job losses and economic recession result in increased dependence on drugs. substances “.
A spokesperson for the Department of Health and Social Care said: “We support evidence-based approaches to reduce the health-related harms of drug abuse and, as part of our NHS Long-term Plan, care teams will be introduced of alcohol in hospitals where alcohol-related admissions are high, intervening in 50,000 cases over five years to reduce the harm. “
