Alcohol abuse cost to taxpayer £2.78bn per year

Government advert teenage binge drinking alcohol

Opinion Former Comments

New GP-led commissioners failing to listen to mental health patients, according to new report

Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCGs) must do more to involve people with mental illness and their families when making spending decisions, according to a new report published today by the charity Rethink Mental Illness.

New dawn delivers fresh challenges for NHS

Having been a cauldron of controversy regarding care levels, rumoured budget cuts and waiting periods over the past few years, the NHS has hit the headlines again recently with its landmark reforms coming into effect. But what challenges do these pose for our health service - and what effect will they have on patients?

NHS must do more to help people with mental illness to stop smoking, says charity

Paul Jenkins, CEO of Rethink Mental Illness, has called on the NHS to do more to help people with mental illness stop smoking, as a new report reveals that health professionals are failing to support smokers with mental illness to quit.

Mental health must get same priority as physical health, says Rethink Mental Illness

“These figures highlight how patchy mental health care is across the country, which our members know only too well. Just 10 per cent of people with severe mental illness are currently being offered talking therapies for example. We have supporters who have sat on NHS waiting lists years for this basic treatment, which should be available to everyone who needs it."

MRSA Action UK: Let whoever is in charge keep this simple question in mind “How can I provide for this right thing to be always done?”

When our Prime Minister was elected to his position he stated very clearly that his Government would be one that is transparent, open, and accountable to the people of this country. How sad it is then, that when the first real test arrives David Cameron has left himself wanting for his lack of action in having those involved in the Mid-Staffordshire debacle accountable for their insensitivities to patients’ and families’ concerns.

MRSA Action UK: Will the Francis report be The Watershed for Improvement in Patient Care?

With the anticipated release of the Mid-Staffordshire Public Inquiry on Wednesday it is not only expected to be critical of the underlying failings within the NHS concerning the standard of care at the Mid-Staffordshire hospital between 2005/2008, but across the NHS in general.

Unite: Government disarray on the economy exposes them as 'failures and fraudsters'

News today (Friday, 25 January) that the economy is sliding further into decline, coupled with the admission by the deputy prime minister that his government has committed serious errors in its management of the economy, has exposed them as failing the nation, says Unite, the country's biggest union.

bpas response to cross-party inquiry into unplanned pregnancy

The British Pregnancy Advisory Service (bpas) welcomes the findings of The Morning After: A Cross-Party Inquiry Into Unplanned Pregnancy. Bpas is particularly pleased that the report emphasises the needs of older women and their partners who are trying to avoid unplanned pregnancy in addition to recommendations to support younger women and men.

IFAW: Landmark Victory as Hunt pleads guilty to offences under the Hunting Act

The Heythrop Hunt and two of its members pleaded guilty today to offences under the Hunting Act 2004 at Oxford Magistrates' Court. The Heythrop Hunt Ltd pleaded guilty to four counts of unlawfully hunting a wild fox with dogs in a landmark victory in the campaign against the cruel sport of hunting with dogs. It is the first time that an entire Hunt has been faced with corporate charges and been found guilty of illegal hunting.

Booze-free bar for recovery alcoholics and addicts gets BIG funding in Liverpool

A booze-free Liverpool bar, that provides an inviting social space for people who have suffered with addiction, has received £10,000 in Lottery good cause cash to expand its community choir. This comes in the same week that the National Lottery celebrates 18 years of changing lives through its funding.

The prime minister will use a visit to a hospital in the north-east today to highlight the cost of alcohol to the NHS.

Excess consumption of alcohol currently costs the NHS £2.7 billion a year, of which £1 billion is for accident and emergency services.

The wider cost to society is put at between £17 billion and £22 billion per annum, which equates to £90 for every taxpayer.

Patients suffering from acute intoxification have more than doubled to 18,500 since 2002/03.

Last year, 200,000 people were admitted to hospital with a primary alcohol-related diagnosis, 40 per cent more than in 2002/03.

Abbott: Cameron should focus on alcohol action not gimmicks

Labour: Police cuts add to problems of alcohol abuse

Cameron: Alcohol abuse a scandal

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Opinion Former Events

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MRSA Action UK Annual Memorial Event

Families will pay tribute and remember those lost to MRSA and healthcare associated infections at Westminster Abbey on Thursday 13th June 2013

BSIA: Information Destruction Exhibition & Conference 2013

Following the great success of the BSIA's Information Destruction Conference and Exhibition in May 2012, we are pleased to annouce that the event is returning again in June 2013. This one-day conference and exhibition is aimed at key decision makers in organisations that carry out the secure destruction of confidential material.