ALCOHOL-related A&E admissions in Bolton are more than double the national average, shock statistics show.

Health experts say Bolton’s high rate of alcohol-related liver disease is directly linked to poverty.

The data map released by Health and Social Care Information Centre (HSCIC) compares the rates of emergency hospital admissions per 100,000 people due to alcohol related illnesses in each Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG).

Illnesses caused by excessive alcohol consumption include liver and kidney failure, jaundice and pneumonia.

Dr Kieran Moriarty is a consultant gastroenterologist specialising in alcohol-related illnesses at the Royal Bolton Hospital.

He says deprivation and cheap, high-strength alcohol are to blame for Bolton’s high figures.

Dr Moriarty said: “If you look at alcohol-related admissions and alcohol-related liver disease in the North West, it is the highest in the country.

“This is directly linked to heavy drinking of strong lagers, ciders and spirits. These are people whose consumption would reduced by a minimum pricing of 50 pence per unit of alcohol.

“The other big factor is socio-economic deprivation. A lot our patients in Bolton come from a socio-economically deprived background because of their drinking. They may lose their job and family, which can lead to further alcohol consumption and poverty.

“These are some of the poorest people in Bolton, who are five to 15 times more likely to be admitted to hospital with alcohol related illnesses or die from alcohol related illnesses.”

Between April 2013 and March 2014, the rate of people being admitted to the Royal Bolton Hospital with alcohol-related illnesses was 50.7 per 100, 000 compared to a much lower national average of 24.1.

Bolton is higher than Greater Manchester’s average of 45.8 and neighbouring Bury, which had an average of 28.

North Manchester CCG had the most shocking figures with a rate of 68.6, followed by Wigan and Blackpool with 55.3 for the same period.

HSCIC chair Kingsley Manning added: “This map paints a powerful picture of one of the many impacts that alcohol has on patients and the NHS in this country. This one image depicts what the hundreds of rows of data published today mean for different areas of England.”