New figures reveal number of alcohol-specific deaths in Lincolnshire reach record breaking high

New figures released by the Office for National Statistics analysed by alcohol addiction experts have revealed that the number of alcohol-specific deaths in Lincolnshire have reached a record breaking high. 

Latest figures for deaths registered between 2022-2024 show that 364 people living in Lincolnshire lost their lives as a direct cause of alcohol. This death toll represents 15.2 per 100,000 people in the area.

This figure is up by 6% from the previous years, when 343 people died as a direct cause of alcohol between 2021-2023, making it the highest alcohol death toll count since records began.

Most worrying to alcohol addiction treatment experts at The UKAT Group is the rise in alcohol-specific deaths in the area since the Covid crisis. 

The UKAT Group’s analysis of the figures shows that between 2019-2021 the Covid-years, just 259 people living in Lincolnshire lost their lives to alcohol; 11.0 per 100,000.

This has risen by a staggering 41% in just a few years as the fall-out of the multiple lockdowns and increased isolation shows just how impactful they were on people’s drinking habits. 

These figures represent the number of people living across Lincolnshire whose death was wholly caused by alcohol consumption. 

The Government states that alcohol consumption is a contributing factor to hospital admissions and deaths from a diverse range of conditions. Alcohol misuse is estimated to cost the NHS about £3.5 billion per year and society as a whole £21 billion annually.

The Government has said that everyone has a role to play in reducing the harmful use of alcohol - yet it does not have a standalone National Alcohol Strategy in place to support and tackle the worsening alcohol related harms landscape across the UK.

Zaheen Ahmed, Head of Treatment at The UKAT Group comments;

“These figures are incredibly sad, because they represent members of the Lincolnshire community who have lost their lives to alcohol. 

“Alcohol is a legal substance, and one that is unfortunately not perceived to be as dangerous as other substances but is in fact, extremely addictive and in some cases, can be fatal. 

“Whilst drinking alcohol can be fun for some, for others, especially since the pandemic, it could have very quickly become unhealthy and problematic. We know first hand that the pandemic had a huge impact on people’s relationships with alcohol; a lot of people turned to drinking alcohol as a coping mechanism and in some cases, the drinking never stopped. And we’re now seeing alcohol-specific mortality rates rising to record breaking highs than ever before.

“We’d urge anyone who thinks they might have an unhealthy relationship with alcohol to seek professional help; and the sooner the better. We’re treating people every day from Lincolnshire and beyond at rehabs up and down the country to save them from the grips of alcohol addiction, and to ultimately, save their life.”