Apparently the latest scare story of the day is that elderly folk are getting pissed up.
There has been a sharp rise in the number of elderly people being treated for drinking problems in London, data suggests.
Figures compiled for BBC Inside Out London by the NHS Information Centre reveal over the past 10 years, there has been a 163% increase in alcohol-related hospital admissions for the over 65s.
Okay, at this point we pause to reflect on how these figures are amassed.
It’s largely a function of methodology. Alcohol-related admissions are calculated in such a way that if you are unlucky enough, say, to be involved in a fire and admitted to hospital for the treatment of your burns, it will count as 0.38 of an alcohol-related admission – unless you happen to be under 15, when it won’t count at all.
If you drown, it counts as 0.34 of an alcohol-related admission – though most people unlucky enough to drown aren’t admitted to hospital. Getting chilled to the bone (accidental excessive cold) counts for 0.25 of an admission, intentional self-harm to 0.20 per cent of an admission.
These fractions apply whether or not there was any evidence you had been drinking before these disasters befell you.
Yes, that’s right, you could be teetotal yet upon admission to hospital, your case is given a percentage towards alcohol related ailments. In other words, for those who prefer plain speaking, the whole thing is a lie.
Of course, this being the BBC, a reputable and reliable purveyor of truth and honesty, such as one would expect from an impartial national state funded broadcaster, this lie will be exposed further down the article, won’t it?
…
zzzzzzz….
Or perhaps not, then.
And, of course, these stats are used as justification to urge the elderly to reduce their drinking even further below the already miserly and entirely fictional official guidelines 🙁
Indeed, Curmudgeon, it seems to be the latest go-to prohibitionist campaign.
The percentage increase, as you rightly point out L, just shows that older people are suffering more ailments generally attributable to older people. As life expectancy increases, ‘alcohol-related’ hospital admissions can do nothing but increase simply because of the mendacious way they are compiled.
Sometimes one can only admire how they have installed such an unbreachable framework to protect future funding. It’s Adam Smith’s self interest writ large, and invincible until we get politicians willing to take them on properly.
Um – another spanner – aren’t ‘admissions’ counted? Not ‘incidences that caused the initial admission’?
As such, someone readmitted will be counted twice (thrice, quadrice, qunice) when they are prematurely evicted. As was reported recently?
I have to say that I’m quite concerned that more elderly people are drowning, being burnt, chilled and self-harming these days.
Another barrage of nannying has come at us over the news media today. Aparently “A group of MPs” has decided to advise us that not drinking every single day but abstaining for a couple of days a week is less harmful to our health. Where these people got this advice from has yet to be revealed. Various Vox Pops have revealed that most people only drink at the weekends anyway. I didn’t hear anyone pointing out that it is non of their effing business and shouldn’t they be concentrating on sorting out the economy.
I’m reminded of a friend whose granny died suddenly in her late 90’s. When asked what she had died from he said, “it was smoking related”. I’ve never laughed so much in my life…he was being genuine.
I watched a programme where some old Redneck from Kentucky or somesuch was celebrating his 100th with all his large family congratulating him. When asked what his secret was he winked at the camera and said, “I’ve always mashed my own shine”. Brilliant. 😆