Urgent action needed on alcohol harm following stark increase in alcohol-specific deaths

The provisional data from the Office for National Statistics from 2020 shows alcohol-specific deaths in England and Wales rose by 20% during 2020, compared with the same time period in 2019. At 13.0 deaths per 100,000, this is the highest rate of deaths since data collection began in 2001.

 There's more work to be done to understand why deaths have increased so starkly. One factor may be that since the pandemic began, those already drinking heavily are most likely to have been drinking more. It might also be that some who need help with their drinking, and with alcohol-related conditions, are not seeking it as a result of COVID-19.

 What we do know is that this crisis is worsening. While deaths between January and March 2020 were 9.7% higher than the same period in 2019, deaths between July and September were 22.6% higher, and deaths between October and December were 28.3% higher - the highest rate for any quarter since records began 20 years ago.

 Staff in alcohol treatment services are on the verge of exhaustion. They have adapted incredibly well to providing services during the pandemic, but with increasing demand and insecure, reducing funding, we are facing a perfect storm – which will lead to alcohol-specific deaths increasing still further.

 The harm caused by alcohol goes beyond this unacceptable, avoidable loss of life. Millions more suffer from worsened mental and physical health every day as a result of harmful drinking – a huge 1 in 10 hospital inpatients are alcohol-dependent – and the harm ripples out, affecting children, families and communities.

 Any one of us can find ourselves drinking harmfully. And every one of us deserves to live a full life free from the harm caused by alcohol, and to have high-quality, early support if we do find ourselves struggling.

If the UK is to recover from the pandemic, the Government must act. We need to have a comprehensive, strategic set of policies from the government to tackle alcohol harm, including an alcohol care team in every NHS hospital that needs one, and sustainable funding for treatment services. When securely and adequately funded, treatment services can intervene and prevent people from developing the kinds of chronic conditions which are the cause of many of these deaths reported today.