Baby Boomers’ drinking is proving expensive for NHS

Posted 14/10/2012

A study has shown that more NHS money is spent treating alcohol-related illness in baby boomers than in young people. The Alcohol Concern Report found the cost of hospital admissions linked to heavy drinking in 55 to 74 year olds in 2010/2011 was more than £825 million. This is ten times the figure for 16 to 24 year olds. In total nearly £2 billion is spent on alcohol-related in-patient hospital admissions in England.

The sums spent on treating the baby boomer generation were based on a study involving 454,317 patients compared with the 54,682 patients who were under 24 and who were treated at a cost of £64 million.

The report also indicates that more than 10 million people in England are drinking above the recommended levels. Problem drinking is the contributing factor for a host of diseases including liver, kidney and heart disease as well as increasing the risk of injuries.  

In many ways the findings are not surprising as the effects of drinking are more likely to catch up with people later in life.  The charity which undertook the study said that part of the reason for compiling the report, which was based on NHS figures, was to break down the data by individual local authority areas. It is hoped the information, compiled with funding from the drug company Lundbeck, will be used by Councils next year when they take responsibility for problem drinking as part of their new remit covering public health under the shake up of the NHS.

Alcohol Concern Chief Executive, Eric Appleby, said that he hoped they would use the findings to help them focus their energy on schemes to tackle problem drinking. “It is a common perception that young people are responsible for the increasing cost of alcohol misuse, but our findings show that in reality this is not the case. It is the middle aged and often middle class drinkers regularly drinking above recommended limits who are actually requiring this complex and expensive NHS care”. Liver disease expert Sir Ian Gilmore, a former President of the Royal College of Physicians, who has long campaigned about alcohol misuse agreed. He said: “It is the unwitting chronic middle aged drinkers who are taking serious risks with their health”.   

Julie Crossley a medical injury lawyer at Ashtons Legal comments: “This is a surprising report. The media usually concentrate their efforts on the young and under 24s and in particular the underage drinkers. This report shows that it is actually the older 55 to 74 year olds who are presenting with alcohol- related illnesses and costing the NHS far more than young people”.