Since the start of the pandemic alcohol admissions in hospitals have seen a 70% decline.

A new report from the team at Private Rehab Clinic Delamere has analysed data from pre-pandemic to current to reveal the impact COVID-19 had on alcohol hospital admissions.

Taking the top spot as the region that saw the biggest decrease in admissions since 2016, was capital city London. Back in 2016, the densely populated region had a huge 104,770 alcohol-related issues in hospitals. By 2021 that number has decreased by 74% to just 25,600.

Taking second place on the list was the North West of England, which saw a 73% decrease in hospital admissions to 35,560 in 2021.

Yorkshire and Humber which landed in third place, the region had just 25,980 alcohol-related hospital admission by 2021. That’s a 71% decrease from 2016.

Here’s the hospital admission rates in other regions of the UK:

London – 74.61% decrease
North West – 73.76% decrease
Yorkshire – 71.18% decrease
East of England – 70.48% decrease
South East – 69.78% decrease
South West – 69.31% decrease
West Midlands – 69.12% decrease
North East – 67.58% decrease
East Midlands – 64.71 decrease

Catherine Carney, Delamere’s psychiatrist and addiction specialist, says of the findings:

“On the face of it, a decrease in alcohol-related hospital admissions appears to be a positive outcome. However, upon deeper inspection, it’s clear that this is not necessarily the case.

“During the pandemic, ready access to health and social care was much more restricted — this meant routine hospital services were also very restricted.

“In order to prioritise access to hospital beds for those fighting COVID-19, other health services were replaced with telephone or online consultations — or postponed entirely. In addition, hospital staff were redeployed or limited in their abilities due to a stark increase in their workload.

“In this context, it’s also worth noting that alcohol deaths throughout the UK rose to an all-time high in 2020. From this statistic alone, it’s clear that the dramatic decline in alcohol-related hospital admissions sadly had fatal consequences for far too many people.”