Alcohol

Summary

Excessive alcohol consumption is England’s second biggest cause of premature mortality behind tobacco use. Regular heavy drinking and binge-drinking behaviours are associated with a whole range of issues including anti-social behaviour, and an increased risk of physical and mental health problems. Long-term alcohol misuse is linked to a range of cancers, cardiovascular diseases, chronic liver disease and diabetes as well as having an impact on the social wellbeing of a person, their family, and friends. Long-term alcohol misuse can lead to social problems such as unemployment, domestic abuse and homelessness.

Key findings

The rates below are directly standardised (DSR) and are per 100,000 of the population (all ages unless stated). 

Alcohol-specific conditions

The term 'alcohol-specific conditions' refers to conditions caused wholly by the use of alcohol including alcohol-induced behavioural disorders and alcohol-related liver cirrhosis.

• The rate of hospital admissions for alcohol-specific conditions for all persons in 2022/23 was significantly higher in Lancashire (723 per 100,000) than observed for England (581) but significantly lower than the North West average (753) – the county had a total of 9,035 admissions in the period. Nationally and regionally the recent trend data show a decline in admissions however Lancashire has seen no significant change and has consistently seen a rate that is significantly worse than England.
• Burnley (947), Preston (889), Chorley (848), Hyndburn (839), Wyre (722), Rossendale (710), Lancaster (685), South Ribble (675) all had significantly worse(/higher) rates of admissions for alcohol specific conditions (all persons, 2023/24) than England, only West Lancashire (529) had a lower rate. West Lancashire was also the only district to see a declining trend for this measure.
• Inequalities data show that males had an admission rate (993) that was twice as high as females (465) for the period 2022/23 - rates for both males and females were significantly higher in Lancashire than the respective rates at a national level (823 and 355). Across all districts admissions rates for males were higher than for females.
• Burnley, Chorley, Hyndburn, Lancaster, Preston, and Wyre all had admissions rates that were higher than England for both sexes. In Rossendale only male admissions rates were higher than England, whilst in South Ribble the reverse is true and female admissions were higher. Fylde, Pendle, and Ribble Valley all had admissions rates that were statistically similar to England whilst in West Lancashire the male rate was lower than England and the female rate was similar. Most districts saw no significant change in trend for either sex however in Chorley male admission rates were increasing and in West Lancashire male admission rates were declining.

Under 18 admissions

• Between 2020/21-22/23, Lancashire had a similar rate of hospital admission episodes for alcohol-specific conditions involving persons aged under 18 years when compared with England. The area had 210 admissions, resulting in a DSR of 27.9 per 100,000 people, England's rate was 26. Two thirds of those admissions were female (with a resulting rate of 38.1, male rate 18.1, both similar to England) which is roughly in line with what is observed nationally wherein under 18 female admissions rates are approximately twice as high as males (34.7 vs 17.8 respectively).
•  Generally, the districts had statistically similar rate of admissions for alcohol-specific conditions for under 18s (2020/21-22/23), however in Pendle the rate was significantly lower for "all persons" (14.6 per 100,000), in Burnley is was higher for males (29.8) and in Rossendale it was higher for females (67.1) – indeed Rossendale's admissions for girls in that period was estimated to be the second highest of all districts in the North West (St. Helen's was highest at 111.9).

Mortality

• The 2023 alcohol-specific mortality rates show that there were 215 deaths across Lancashire-12, giving the area a DSR of 17.0 per 100,000 people (all ages), statistically similar to the England rate of 15.0. Trend data show Lancashire's rate of alcohol-specific mortality shows no significant change though the number of deaths was fewer in 2023 than in 2022 (250).

 

Alcohol-related conditions

Admissions for alcohol-related conditions (narrow) refers to where the primary diagnosis is an alcohol-related condition, or a secondary diagnosis is an alcohol-related external cause. Alcohol-related mortality refers to deaths with an alcohol attributable fraction based on the underlying cause of death (including ethanol or methanol poisoning and the toxic effects of alcohol). 

Admissions:

• In 2022/23, across Lancashire-12, 6,087 hospital admissions were classed as alcohol-related conditions, the county's rate of admission was 482 per 100,000 which remains statistically similar to England (475). The general trend for this rate is of decline, down from 509 admissions per 100,000 in 2018/19.
• In the districts Fylde (571), Lancaster (559), and Wyre (580) all had statistically significantly higher rates of admissions for alcohol-related conditions when compared to England whilst Ribble Valley (319), West Lancashire (367), and South Ribble (410) were significantly lower. Recent trend data show that West Lancashire was the only district to have a significant decline for these admissions.
• Male hospital admissions for alcohol-related conditions (670) were significantly higher in Lancashire than nationally (639) whilst Lancashire female admissions (309) were significantly lower than nationally (326).
• In the districts Lancaster and Wyre both had significantly higher rates of admissions for alcohol-related conditions for both males and females (Lancaster male – 741, female 394 / Wyre male – 741, female - 437) when compared with England. Burnley (770), Chorley (713), and Hyndburn (751, highest of the 12 districts) had worse rates for males. Fylde had a rate  of admissions for females (447 – highest of the districts) that was worse than England.

Admissions by condition (2022/23, rate per 100,000):

• Admissions for alcohol-related unintentional injuries were higher in Lancashire (56.9 per 100,000) than for England (49.7) for all persons and for males (100.2 in Lancashire vs 89.0 for England) but similar for females (15.6 vs 12.8 for England).
• Admissions for alcohol-related unintentional injuries for all persons are significantly worse/higher in Burnley (67.2) and Hyndburn (71.6), they are also significantly higher in these districts for male admissions (118.9 and 127.0 respectively). All other districts had admission rates similar to England.
• Admissions for mental and behavioural disorders due to use of alcohol in Lancashire (all persons – 55.6, males - 79.9, and females - 32.1) were similar to England (57.8).
• Admissions for metal and behavioural disorders due to alcohol are significantly worse than England in both Hyndburn (84.7) and Preston (75.0) for all persons as well as for males (130.5 and 108.6 respectively) but some districts experienced significantly lower rates (Burnley, Fylde, Ribble Valley, Wyre).
• Admissions for self-poisoning were significantly lower (all persons 19.9, and females 19.7) or similar (males 20.3) and showing a declining trend for all.

Admissions by age (2022/23, rate per 100,000)

• Lancashire's rate of admissions to hospital for alcohol-related conditions for under 40 year olds (2022/23) was statistically similar to England for all persons (Lancs – 141.4, Eng – 137.8), for males (Lancs – 187.3, Eng – 172.9), and for females (Lancs – 97.1, Eng – 104.6). Local trend data shows that this is declining which is in line with the national trend.
• However, in Hyndburn and Rossendale admissions for all persons under 40 were significantly higher than for England for all persons (195.7 and 185.4 respectively) and for males (260.8 and 292.4 respectively). Overall, the rate of male admissions was higher than for females, this disparity is most evident in Rossendale where admissions for males were over 3 times as high as for females (vs nearly twice as high in Lancashire overall and around 60% higher for England). 
• For all persons aged 40-64 years old alcohol-related admissions in Lancashire (765 per 100,000) were similar to England (752) though higher in Fylde (885), Lancaster (878), Pendle (861), and Wyre (901), and lower in Ribble Valley (493), South Ribble (652), and West Lancashire (563).
• The male rate of admissions was significantly higher in Lancashire (1002) than for England (922) and was nearly double the female admission rate (534) which was significantly lower than England (588).
• The districts with significantly higher admission rates for 40-64 year old males were: Burnley (1,095), Chorley, (1,143, the only district with an increasing trend), Hyndburn (1,152), Lancaster (1,074), Pendle (1,174), and Wyre (1,099). Fylde (865) and Wyre (715) both had significantly higher admissions for females.
• The districts with significantly lower admission rates for 40-64 year old males were Ribble Valley (693) and West Lancashire (775), both also had significantly lower rates for female admissions (303 and 363 respectively). Burnley (445), Chorley (431), Hyndburn(424), and Rossendale (330) also all had lower rates for female admissions for this age group.
• Finally, for persons aged over 65 Lancashire's rate of hospital admissions for alcohol-related conditions was statistically similar to England for all persons (Lancashire - 819 , England - 809), males (Lancashire - 1,262, England -1,277), and females (Lancashire - 434 , England -411).
• Once again, there is considerable variation across admissions by district of residence Fylde and Lancaster both had significantly higher rates for all groups (Fylde: All – 1,133, Male – 1,672, Female – 649 / Lancaster: All – 1,034, Male – 1,597, Female - 537). Wyre had a significantly higher rate for all persons (1,080) and females (798), whilst Burnley was significantly higher for males (1,644).
• The districts with significantly lower rates than England were: Ribble Valley (All - 524, Male - 836, Female - 250) and West Lancashire (All - 625, Male – 1,026, Female - 291) which had lower rates across all groups, Rossendale was lower for all (612) and females (253), Pendle which is lower for all (657) and males (893), and Burnley which was lower for females (271)

Mortality

• There were 609 alcohol-related deaths recorded across Lancashire-12 in 2022, giving the area a DSR of 47.6, significantly higher than England's rate (39.7). Lancashire rate has seen no significant change whereas nationally the rate is increasing. Alcohol related mortality was higher for males (71.9) than females (25.8) and significantly worse for both in Lancashire when benchmarked against the national figures (60.3 and 22.0 respectively.)
• Lancaster (61.9), Hyndburn (55.7) and Burnley (55.5) all had alcohol related mortality rates that were higher than England whilst the other districts were similar. The rates for males were higher than England in Hyndburn (95.2) and Lancaster (102.2) whilst for females they were higher than England in Chorley (36.1).
• The Potential years lost of life (PYLL) due to alcohol-related conditions (2022) was higher than England in Lancashire for males (1,564 per 100,000 vs Eng – 1,211) and similar to England (536) for females (632). Lancashire's trend data showed no significant change whereas for England this was increasing. The PYLL rate was highest in Lancaster (2,323), Fylde (2,003), and Hyndburn (1,994) – all were significantly worse than England for males whilst Chorley (931) was significantly higher for females.
• The rate of potential working years of life lost (PWYLL, DSR per 100,000) due to alcohol related conditions (2022) was also significantly higher in Lancashire than England for both males (688 vs 484 for England) and females (233 vs 202 for England). More than half of Lancashire districts had higher rate of PWYLL for males with this being highest in Lancaster at 1,039 per 100,000, for females the highest rate was in Chorley (376).

 

Treatment

• In 2023/24 Lancashire 1,673 people were in treatment at specialist alcohol misuse services with 0.8% waiting more than 3 weeks for treatment which is better than the England rate of 2.4%
• In 2023 the successful completion rate of alcohol treatment services in Lancashire was 41.1% which is significantly higher than observed for England (41.1%) however the overall trend is one of decline.
• The mortality ratio for deaths in alcohol treatment in the period 2019/20-21/22 is significantly worse than England at 1.37 (vs 1)

 

The Local Alcohol Profiles for England provide local data alongside national comparators to support local health improvement.

For county and unitary data and further information please see below.

 

Page updated January 2025