There are four different types of treatment for alcohol addiction—structured counselling, community detoxification, with support from a GP, nurse or alcohol treatment worker, specialised residential services, for those who are not able to receive or not suitable for community based treatment, and self-help groups. The effectiveness of these treatments is dependent on the degree of motivation of the individual and the severity of their addiction.
On 1 November 2005, the Department published the ‘Alcohol Needs Assessment Research Project’ (ANARP) assessment of the alcohol treatment needs in England, with a main focus on the measurement of the gap between the demand for and provision of specialist alcohol treatment services in England at a national and regional level. Copies of this publication have been already placed in the Library.
ANARP conducted their research over a period of six months between September 2004 and February 2005 and concluded that there was a large gap between the need for alcohol treatment and access to alcohol treatment.
Aside from ANARP, data on those receiving alcohol treatment have not been routinely collected. However, on 1 April 2008 the National Drug Treatment Monitoring System, which collects data on people in structured drug treatment in England, was expanded to include the collection of alcohol treatment data.
Called the National Alcohol Treatment Monitoring System (NATMS) this system will, in time, allow the Department, strategic health authorities and primary care trusts (PCTs) to monitor alcohol treatment services in England. The latest data show that during the month of April 2008 there were 44,863 people receiving structured treatment for alcohol misuse.
A new national health service indicator has been put into place to measure the change in the rate of hospital admissions for alcohol related harm from April 2008—the first ever national commitment to monitor how the NHS is tackling alcohol health harms.
This indicator is expected to encourage PCTs to invest in earlier identification of people who drink too much, linked to advice and support from GPs or other health care staff—shown to be the best way of reducing the kind of 'everyday' drinking which over time leads to liver disease and other problems, including dependency.
From 2007-08 PCTs have received an extra £15 million of additional funding to improve alcohol interventions. The National Audit Office will carry out a value for money audit of NHS spend on alcohol interventions and specialist treatment, with a report expected this autumn.
In total 76 local authorities have chosen to set a target using National Indicator 31, rate of hospital admissions per 100,000 for alcohol related harm, of the National Indicator Set, as part of their local area agreement. The National Indicator Set allows progress against national priorities, agreed by Government, to be measured and strengthens the incentives for improved and closer partnership working.
I have been asked to reply.
The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply.
Letter from Karen Dunnell, dated July 2008:
As National Statistician, I have been asked to reply to your recent question asking how many people who were (a) under 14, (b) 14 to 16 and (c) 17 to 18 years old died from alcohol-related causes in each of the last 10 years, broken down by (i) strategic health authority and (ii) primary care trust area. (218379)
The tables attached provide the number of deaths with an alcohol-related underlying cause in persons aged (a) under 14 years (table 1), (b) 14 to 16 (table 2) and (c) 17 to 18 (table 3) in strategic health authorities in England, for 1997 to 2006 (the latest year available). Figures for alcohol-related deaths in these age groups are not available for primary care trust areas.
Deaths (persons) Strategic health authority 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 England 5 4 2 2 0 0 2 1 1 0 North East 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 North West 2 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Yorkshire and the Humber 0 0 1 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 East Midlands 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 West Midlands 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 East of England 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 London 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 South East Coast 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 South Central 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 South West 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Deaths (persons) Strategic health authority 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 England 2 1 0 0 1 0 2 1 0 0 North East 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 North West 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 Yorkshire and the Humber 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 East Midlands 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 West Midlands 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 East of England 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 London 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 South East Coast 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 South Central 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 South West 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Deaths (persons) Strategic health authority 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 England 5 5 3 4 4 1 1 1 4 2 North East 1 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 North West 2 0 0 1 1 1 0 0 1 0 Yorkshire and the Humber 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 East Midlands 0 0 1 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 West Midlands 0 2 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 1 East of England 0 0 2 1 1 0 0 1 1 1 London 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 South East Coast 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 South Central 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 South West 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 Cause of death was defined using the International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision (ICD-9) for the years 1997 to 2000, and Tenth Revision (ICD-10) for 2001 onwards. The specific causes of death categorised as alcohol-related, and their corresponding ICD-9 and ICD-10 codes, are shown in the boxes below. 2 Based on boundaries as of 2008. 3 Figures are for deaths registered in each calendar year.
Cause of death ICD-9 code(s) Alcoholic psychoses 291 Alcohol dependence syndrome 303 Non-dependent abuse of alcohol 305.0 Alcoholic cardiomyopathy 425.5 Alcoholic fatty liver 571.0 Acute alcoholic hepatitis 571.1 Alcoholic cirrhosis of liver 571.2 Alcoholic liver damage, unspecified 571.3 Chronic hepatitis 571.4 Cirrhosis of liver without mention of alcohol 571.5 Other chronic non-alcoholic liver disease 571.8 Unspecified chronic liver disease without mention of alcohol 571.9 Accidental poisoning by alcohol E860
Cause of death ICD-10 code(s) Mental and behavioural disorders due to use of alcohol F10 Degeneration of nervous system due to alcohol G31.2 Alcoholic polyneuropathy G62.1 Alcoholic cardiomyopathy I42.6 Alcoholic gastritis K29.2 Alcoholic liver disease K70 Chronic hepatitis, not elsewhere classified K73 Fibrosis and cirrhosis of liver (excluding Biliary cirrhosis) 1K74 Alcohol induced chronic pancreatitis K86.0 Accidental poisoning by and exposure to alcohol X45 Intentional self-poisoning by and exposure to alcohol X65 Poisoning by and exposure to alcohol, undetermined intent Y15 1 Excluding K74.3 to K74.5
Prior to 1 April 2008 there was no routine collection of data on numbers receiving alcohol treatment in England. The Department commissioned an Alcohol Needs Assessment Review Project, which reported in 2005 that approximately 63,000 alcohol dependent individuals access treatment each year.
On 1 April 2008, a National Alcohol Treatment Monitoring System begun operation to collect and report local and national information on the provision of alcohol treatment services in England. The first year's data will be reported in October 2009.