Drunk Patient Figures Revealed

Alcohol was responsible for almost 80, 000 incidents during a two year period in Scotland.

According to figures, paramedics have to deal with a drunk patient every 21 minutes.

Scottish Ambulance Service bosses say the problem may actually be even worse than the figures suggest because crews don't always record that alcohol has been involved.

In 2012, paramedics in Fife dealt with more than 1, 863 drunk individuals.

The greatest proportion of incidents have happened in Glasgow, with 25, 926 recorded incidents in the last three years.

A spokesman for the Scottish Ambulance Service said: "Alcohol and drug related cases have a significant impact on ambulance operations and often account for a high proportion of demand, as well as being a consistent factor in incidents of abuse and assaults on staff."
 
Barbara O'Donnell, Acting Chief Executive of Alcohol Focus Scotland, said: "These figures are yet more evidence of the negative impact that excessive drinking is having on our emergency services.
 
"Ambulance crews are spending far too much time dealing with the effects of alcohol and are often on the receiving end of verbal and physical abuse from people who have had too much to drink.
 
"We're in this mess because alcohol is available anytime, anywhere and sold at pocket money prices.
 
"Without effective action to address these issues, alcohol-related illnesses and injuries will continue to place a huge avoidable burden on our front-line services."