MEN are more than twice as likely as women to be admitted to hospital with an alcohol related condition in Dorset, new data has revealed.

Public Health England statistics show the number of male patients who attended hospital with an alcohol related diagnosis reached 588 per 100,000 people in 2016-17. This is more than double the rate for women, which was 288.

In Bournemouth, the rate for men was even higher at 1,070, while the rate for women was 507.

And in Poole the rate for men was 858 per 100,000, while for women it sat at 433.

The statistics look at admissions where the primary diagnosis or any of the secondary diagnoses are due to alcohol.

Conditions with a main cause of alcohol include liver cirrhosis and alcohol poisoning, while drinking can also lead to forms of cancer and heart disease.

The government estimates alcohol costs the NHS £3.5 billion each year.

Overall the rate of alcohol-related hospital admissions in Dorset in 2016-17 was 432 per 100,000.

This is similar to the previous 12 months when the rate was 430.

Dr James Nicholls, director of research and policy development at Alcohol Research UK, said: "Alcohol-related hospital admissions have been stabilising in recent years, but are still around 20 per cent higher than they were in 2005.

"Importantly, hospital admissions for younger drinkers are falling, reflecting a long-term decline in youth consumption over the last decade.”

An Office for National Statistics survey last year found that 27 per cent of 16 to 24-year-olds are now teetotal, compared to 19 per cent ten years previously.

"At the same time, admissions are highest among people aged between 45 and 64,” Dr Nicholls continued.

"This is the age group which currently drinks the most, and among which consumption has fallen the least."

He explained that men continue to have the highest rates of hospital admissions as they are more likely to drink heavily than women.

However, in under-18s, women are more likely to be admitted, due to both physiological differences and binge drinking.

Dr Nicholls added: "One positive trend is that the wholly-attributable narrow measure has been falling in recent years. This may reflect the general decline in consumption across the population since around 2005."