A story every parent should read: 100 Scots children a week in A&E, drunk on about 6 pints each, aged as young as 8

IN THE beds of the emergency departments where he has worked for more than 20 years, Dr Bill Morrison has seen primary-school children unconscious through alcohol, caked in their own waste and bearing wounds from falling as their legs gave way.

Year on year, he has seen more and more NHS resources devoted to ensuring these pre-teens do not choke to death on their own vomit.

Yesterday, he unveiled the findings of an investigation into the effects of Scotland's "bevvy culture" on its emergency rooms – and warned the country was facing "social meltdown" in ten years.

In the six-week period of the study, almost 650 youngsters were admitted to emergency departments, the youngest of them only eight years old.

Many had also taken illegal drugs – some solely with the intention of harming themselves – and about a quarter had been assaulted.

"We are greatly concerned about drinking in young people," said Dr Morrison. "There are children turning up intoxicated that can range from silly behaviour to those who are so unconscious with alcohol they are in danger of aspirating – vomiting, getting vomit into their lungs and dying. We are storing up enormous problems. I don't think we can underestimate it."

The report, from NHS Quality Improvement Scotland, shows only the tip of the iceberg of under-age drinking.

In December, The Scotsman revealed that more than 2,000 youngsters had been arrested for being drunk and incapable in public. This week, we told how police in West Lothian were dealing with 12-year-olds swigging alcohol at four in the afternoon.

The new work is aimed at informing government policy on alcohol in an attempt to reverse an apparent decline in which the country finds itself. Last night, alcohol and child-welfare experts called its findings "shocking".

In his time at Ninewells Hospital, Dundee, Dr Morrison has seen teenage drunks in all stages of intoxication – from "giggly and silly", through abusive, to close to death. "They need the same management as someone who has come in poisoned from prescription medication," he said.

"They need close monitoring. They may need intubating (the insertion of a tube]. Usually, at this stage, they're unconscious. They have fallen over, probably injured themselves, and are incapable of spontaneous movement."

Many do not learn their lesson. In the study, about two per cent of the youngsters attended A&E more than once, indicating a deeper-seated problem than an accidental "experiment". Ten per cent of the total also had alcohol-related issues in their medical history.

Dr Morrison said the report was "damning" and he hoped it would highlight the situation to policymakers. "I have been a consultant in A&E for more than 15 years and my position is we are seeing more alcohol-related problems, and we are certainly seeing more problems in young people," he said.

"Why? I wish I could answer that. I suspect greater availability, greater freedom on the part of children, that alcohol is relatively cheaper – there are a number of factors which have contributed, or possibly contributed, to this. I suspect we are seeing patterns of behaviour likely to become reinforced unless we take serious action.

"I think there's a trend for certain groups of children to engage in repeat behaviour and we need to break that. I think we are looking at patterns of alcohol activity being established early."

The average child admitted to hospital through alcohol will have drunk 13 units – equivalent to over six pints.

In the report, almost half of the children (48 per cent) were there because they had suffered trauma – an assault or an accident – while 42 per cent attended solely because they were intoxicated. The older the child, the more likely they were to be there because of trauma.

The vast majority of youngsters were discharged from the emergency department within four hours, but 22 per cent were sent on to other wards – the psychiatric ward in many cases. Dr Morrison

said poor parenting was a factor in some, although not all, cases – and there was a genetic correlation between parent-and-child alcohol abuse.

The report – one of five looking at the effect alcohol has on A&E departments – has made a series of recommendations for the Scottish Government.

Dr Morrison said data collection needed to be improved, along with communication between different bodies, such as police and hospitals. He also said that services available after discharge from A&E, such as counselling, needed to be improved and perhaps bolstered by investment.

Jack Law, the chief executive of Alcohol Focus Scotland, said it was "very concerning" that so many children needed hospital treatment because of alcohol, and particularly shocking that children as young as eight were involved.

"Children's bodies aren't developed enough to cope with alcohol, so smaller amounts can lead to being dangerously drunk quite quickly," he said. "We must introduce more effective prevention and education measures, combined with stricter enforcement of the laws."

Anne Houston, the chief executive of charity Children 1st, said the number of youngsters drinking to excess was "really concerning". She continued: "As well as damaging their health, being under the influence of alcohol leaves young people more at risk of harm.

"We must involve children and young people in exploring why they feel the need to drink in the first place. We also need to take a hard look at the culture in Scotland, where drinking to excess is seen as socially acceptable."

Shona Robison, the public health minister, said: "One young person attending an emergency department because of alcohol misuse is one too many. We must get better at diverting young people from misusing alcohol."

She said efforts included cracking down on rogue retailers who sold to under-age drinkers, while alcohol education in schools was also being strengthened.

>BULLETS
THE DAMNING STATISTICS

8 Age of the youngest patient treated during the audit where alcohol was a factor

633 Youngsters aged between 13 and 17 treated in A&E during the audit where alcohol was a factor

15 Youngsters aged between 8 and 12 treated at A&E during the audit where alcohol was a factor

22 Percentage of youngsters who had also taken illegal drugs in the previous 24 hours

16 Most common age for youngsters to be admitted in an alcohol-related case

77 Assaults involving alcohol are dealt with daily in Scotland's A&Es