Director of Public Health Annual Report 2019: Alcohol and us

This year my Director of Public Health report takes a closer look at our relationship with alcohol in Buckinghamshire, as it is a crucial influence on the health and wellbeing of individuals, families and communities.

Alcohol is part of many of our lives in the county. People drink for many reasons – to celebrate, relax or just through habit. However, it is estimated that more than 1 in 4 adults in Buckinghamshire drink at levels above the Chief Medical Officer for England’s guidelines. This equates to more than 100,000 adults in Buckinghamshire who are at risk of damaging their health. Most of these people are not dependent on alcohol and may not realise they have a problem.

This report hopes to shed some light on this question through a mix of evidence and stories from Buckinghamshire residents and frontline staff. There is a potent cocktail of societal, economic and commercial influences, cultural norms and individual factors at play.

Alcohol harms do not just affect health or the individual who is drinking too much but can impact on children and families and wider society, resulting in relationship and family breakdown, child neglect and abuse, domestic violence and other violent crimes and loss of employment.

Addressing the harms from alcohol requires national and local action. In Buckinghamshire we can start changing the conversation around alcohol, increase awareness of safer drinking levels and tackle the stereotypes that stop us recognising who might be drinking at levels that might cause harm. There is a role for all of us in this, but particularly, for frontline staff in health and social care to routinely ask the simple questions that might result in someone getting the help they need and changing their life for the better. This report includes information about what services are available in Buckinghamshire and links to useful resources so we can all start making a difference now. Are you, or someone you know, one of the 1 in 4?

Finally I would like to offer my profound thanks to all those who shared stories of their own particular journey with alcohol, which brings the issues to life more than my statistics ever could. I would also like to thank the people from a variety of organisations who gave us a glimpse of the issues they see due to alcohol and thank them for the vital work they do every day.

Dr Jane O’Grady