Alcohol misuse (health and wellbeing needs in South Tyneside)

South Tyneside's alcohol profile shows a wealth of information across all alcohol related indicators. The key headlines are:

• In 2015 / 16, there were 4,913 alcohol related admissions in South Tyneside.  This equates to a standardised rate of 3,272 per 100,000 adults in South Tyneside, this is significantly higher than both the North East and England rates.
• For every 100 admissions for alcohol attributable admissions in England South Tyneside can expect 149. Four wards, Simonside and Rekendyke, Biddick and All Saints, Bede, and Whiteleas have admission ratios that are significantly higher than the borough.  Three were significantly lower: Boldon Colliery, Whitburn and Marsden, and Cleadon and East Boldon.
• In 2015 / 16 South Tyneside had the fourth highest rate in England for admission episodes for alcohol-related conditions (narrow) with 588 per 100,000 under 40s (directly age standardised)
• In 2015 / 16 South Tyneside had the fourth highest rate in England for admission episodes for alcohol-related conditions (narrow) for over 65s  with 1,361 per 100,000 (directly age standardised)
• Years of life lost indicate the contribution of alcohol misuse to premature death. In South Tyneside 961 years of life were lost to alcohol-related conditions in men per 100,000 standardised population in 2015. This is higher than the national standardised rate of 797 per 100,000 males. In females the local standardised rate is 472 compared to the national standardised rate of 311 years of life lost to alcohol-related conditions in women.
• Incidence rate of alcohol-related cancer (2013-15) is not statistically different to that of the England average.  However the new guidelines on alcohol consumption produced by the Chief Medical Officer warns that drinking any level of alcohol increases the risk of a range of cancers.  This is supported by a new review from the Committee on Carcinogenicity (CoC) on alcohol and cancer risk.
• From around 2000 South Tyneside is seeing an increasing rate of under 75 mortality rate from liver disease in females with 6 of the last 7 releases being significantly worse than the England average. Between 2014 - 16 South Tyneside had a rate of 22.1 females per 100,000 DSR in real terms this would be 46 people.
• While South Tyneside had a similar mortality rate to England in 2007 - 09 it has been significantly higher in six out of seven years since.
• Of the male perpetrators of domestic violence crimes in South Tyneside 59% had alcohol issues.
• The estimated number of alcohol related crimes in 2015 / 16 is 12,400; including reported and unreported crimes:
  • 3,400 for criminal damage
  • 1,100 for violence against the person
  • 7,400 for theft
• In July 2017 Public Health England published the National Alcohol Consumption Survey as a result of the lack of reliable information about alcohol consumption. Public Health England (PHE) commissioned Ipsos MORI to collect data for a sample of local authorities which were chosen to provide coverage of all regions and types of local authority.  The following table demonstrates drinking consumption for South Tyneside in comparison to other areas. 
• According to the survey, South Tyneside are the highest in the country for binge drinking (6 / 8 or more units on a single occasion).  South Tyneside also has a high percentage of respondents recording an Audit score of 8 or more.

• AUDIT was developed and evaluated over a period of two decades, and it has been found to provide an accurate measure of risk across gender, age, and cultures.  Audit consists of 10 scored questions about recent alcohol use, alcohol dependence symptoms, and alcohol-related problems.
• Scores between 8 and 15 are most appropriate for simple advice focused on the reduction of hazardous drinking. Scores between 16 and 19 suggest brief counselling and continued monitoring. Scores of 20 or above clearly warrant further diagnostic evaluation for alcohol dependence.

Cost of alcohol

• In 2015 / 16 the cost of alcohol harm in South Tyneside was estimated to be £386 per head of population, the same as the North East, which is more than the England figure of £363 per head of the population.
• Balance recently revealed that the cost of alcohol harm to the NHS and healthcare is estimated at £13.1m which ranks South Tyneside as the 5^th most expensive per head nationally:
  • The cost of the 1,155 hospital admissions wholly attributable to alcohol is estimated at £2.2m
  • 3,182 admissions partially attributable to alcohol cost £4.8m
  • 4,913all alcohol related admissions cost £7.0m
• In 2015 / 16 £8.5m of the local authority social services budget was estimated to be attributable to alcohol:
  • Children: Social services £7.0m
  • Substance misuse services £61,700
  • Adults: Substance misuse support and alcohol misuse services £1.4m
• Crime and disorder is estimated to be £113 per head of population during 2015/16, ranking South Tyneside as 130^th most expensive per head of population:
  • Anticipation of crime: £0.7m
  • Consequence of crime: £15.5m
  • Response to crime: £0.5m