MORE than 250 people died in Cumbria in one year due to alcohol-related illnesses, a report shows.
The report by the charity Alcohol Concern also revealed hospital admissions in the county are costing taxpayers millions.
It produced an ‘alcohol harm map’ based on alcohol-related hospital admissions in the North West between 2012 and 2013.
It revealed that inpatient admissions in Cumbria totalled 11,738 while A&E admissions number 51,832.
In total 252 deaths were attributable to alcohol, the third highest figure for all the 23 areas studied.
The cost of both inpatient and A&E admissions to the taxpayer was nearly £25m.
Alcohol Concern chief executive Jackie Ballard said: “The NHS is now facing an intolerable strain from alcohol-related illnesses. This is not just from readily-identifiable causes such as A&E visits and admissions for liver disease, but from a significant number of other conditions in which alcohol plays a major, but often underappreciated part."
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