100 hospital cases a day

SCOTS hospitals dealt with 100 alcohol-related admissions every day in the past year.

NHS 2016-17 figures showed 36,235 alcohol-related hospital admissions compared to 35,311 in 2014-15. The 2016-17 admissions involved 24,060 individual patients – up from 23,656 in 2015-16.

Scots from the most deprived areas were nearly eight times more likely to be admitted to hospital with alcohol-related problems than those from the most affluent areas.

Scottish Labour public health spokesman Colin Smyth said: ‘These figures are deeply troubling. The reality is the SNP has slashed funding for alcohol and drug partnerships by 24 per cent.’

Public health minister Aileen Campbell said: ‘This data shows that there has never been a clearer demonstration of the need for minimum unit pricing for alcohol.’