David Ruffley MP has today released new House of Commons figures which reveal that admissions to hospital with an alcohol-related diagnosis have shot up by 126 percent since 1997/98 in the former Suffolk West Primary Care Trust (PCT) area.

David obtained the figures through his questioning of Caroline Flint, Minister of State at the Department of Health.

The answer David was given also revealed that in the former Norfolk, Suffolk and Cambridgeshire Strategic Health Authority area admissions to hospital with an alcohol-related diagnosis have increased by 84 percent since 1997/98.

Between 2004/05 and 2005/06, the latest year for which figures are available, alcohol related admissions in the West Suffolk area and Norfolk, Suffolk and Cambridgeshire area increased by 16 and 17 percent respectively.

David said:

'These new House of Commons figures on alcohol-related admissions to hospital are truly shocking.

'Admissions in the West Suffolk area have increased by 126 percent since 1997/98- that's a colossal increase and something we in Suffolk need to take a much closer look at.

'This staggering increase underlines the importance of the campaign to save the A & E at the West Suffolk Hospital which is persistently being referred to as under threat by the regional Strategic Health Authority's review of acute services.

'I will be tabling further questions in the House of Commons to look into these figures more closely and I have written to Carole Taylor-Brown, Chief Executive of Suffolk PCT, asking exactly what is being done to combat alcohol abuse in Suffolk because it is clear to me that a lot more work is required.

'There has also been an increase of 84 percent in alcohol-related admissions since 1997/98 across the whole of Norfolk, Suffolk and Cambridgeshire. This figure is worrying in itself but the fact that the increase in West Suffolk is 42 percent higher over the same period is simply staggering.

'Alcohol abuse is something we must work incredibly hard to combat.

In the UK, binge drinking accounts for 40 per cent of all drinking sessions by men and 22 per cent by women.

'There is also thought to be a very close link between alcoholism and mental illness. Approximately a third of all patients suffering from severe mental illness also have an alcohol problem. The precise nature of the link is unclear but alcohol seriously exacerbates anxiety and can also contribute to depressive illness, accentuate sleep problems and is a factor in 65% of all suicides.'