England failing to tackle "alcohol epidemic" - researchers

PanARMENIAN.Net - Massive cuts to alcohol rehab services mean a "national epidemic" of alcohol-related problems is not being tackled, King's College London researchers say, according to the BBC.

And people with drink problems in England are less than half as likely to receive the right help as those in Scotland and Wales.

More than £100m has been cut since services in England were reorganised in 2012, the study found.

Councils in England say central government grant cuts are to blame.

The study, published in the British Medical Journal, found that, on average, drug and alcohol services in England had lost approximately 30% of their budgets since 2013-14, when they were handed over to local authority control.

In Scotland and Wales, where there has been investment in alcohol treatment services, people with alcohol dependency are 2.5 times more likely to have access to specialist treatment than those in England, where hospital admissions for alcohol-related conditions have risen 17% in the past decade.