A formal alcohol ban is to be introduced across five Liverpool hospitals.Staff will ask patients, visitors and employees to hand over alcohol so it can be disposed of, while security may be called if they refuse.The ban follows concerns that patients were buying alcohol from nearby shops and bringing it back into hospital where it could interact with medication, cause problems with wound healing and hinder patients’ recovery.Nearby off-licences and other retailers are also being asked voluntarily to refuse sales to known hospital patients, or when they suspect alcohol is intended for someone receiving treatment.Liverpool City Council said 4,943 alcohol-specific hospital admissions were recorded in the city in 2023-24, up 9% on the previous year.Between 2020 and 2024 there were 460 alcohol-specific deaths, external recorded in Liverpool, while admission rates were 2.9 times higher in the most deprived communities than in the least deprived.The council added that alcohol-related harm remains one of Liverpool’s most significant public health challenges.Dr Paul Richardson said hospitals were “places of healing” and alcohol “really does not play a part in that”.Patients will continue to receive care regardless of alcohol dependence, with specialist Alcohol Care Teams available to assess people at risk of withdrawal and arrange further support.Richardson said alcohol dependence should be recognised as “a chronic medical problem” and treated “with care and dignity”.
Liverpool hospitals ban alcohol on five major sites
