Cumbrian's urged to cut back on booze to save money

North Cumbria Integrated Care Trust is urging people to change their habits for the benefit of their health.

Cumbria has the second highest alcohol related death rate in the region.

In addition there were 12,945 alcohol related A&E attendances between April 2018 and September 2021, costing our local NHS almost £2 million.

Specialist Nurse Karen Nicoll from North Cumbria Integrated Care NHS Foundation Trust said: “Alcohol contributes to over 60 conditions including cardiovascular (heart) disease, cancer, liver disease, harm from accidents, violence and self-harm.

"All of this puts substantial, and to a large extent avoidable, pressure on the NHS. Identifying and helping those using alcohol to excess will benefit your overall health in both the short and longer term.

In regards to the number of attendants, she added: "That's just those people that we know presented to our accident and emergency department.

"There will be people that present to their GP, miss days at work, have relationship issues and they may not be aware that that alcohol use is having that impact on the.

"The numbers are scarily high, the number of people in our population that are drinking more than is healthy for them.

"We're not suggesting everyone becomes t-total, for some people it's just reducing the amount they drink, the number of cans they have, not drinking every night of the week.

"I think there is a big question around what we see as socially acceptable. Around half of the referrals we've received have been from people who would not normally go to a drug and alcohol service.

"They are not people who would have identified themselves as having an alcohol problem."