DIRE warnings about the impact of alcohol abuse are not being heeded, one of East Lancashire’s leading public health directors has said.

Hospital admission rates continued to climb from 2005-6 to 2009-10 despite high-profile work detailing the raft of health problems caused by excessive drinking.

Now Dr Sohail Bhatti of NHS East Lancashire, which covers Burnley, Hyndburn, Pendle, Ribble Valley and Rossendale, has said funding should be safeguarded to combat the menace despite the need for NHS savings.

The admission levels rose by 20 per cent from 2008-9 to 2009-10, nearly double the national rate.

Health chiefs believe that the problem is more pronounced in older people, peaking with the 55 to 74 age bracket for men and 65 to 74 years for women.

Chief symptoms of the alcohol problem, for East Lancashire patients, centre around cardiac disease and hypertension.

And social deprivation levels are believed to be a key indicator for alcohol difficulties with higher admission rates in the poorer areas of Burnley, Accrington and Nelson.

Work has been undertaken to combat the problem as one of the main strands of the Save A Million Years of Life campaign in East Lancashire.

A pilot scheme has also been undertaken in partnership with NHS Blackburn with Darwen to reduce repeat alcohol admissions.

Dr Bhatty is now calling for alcohol misuse funding to be held at 2009-10 levels and ‘ring-fenced’ so it cannot be diverted for other priorities.

He said: “The main aim is to reduce alcohol admissions rates by one per cent per year.”