BRACKNELL residents suffering from alcohol-related diseases cost the NHS more than £150,000 over the last three years.

So far this year, almost £35,000 has been spent on treating Bracknell residents with related diseases.

November marked Alcohol Awareness Week and an investigation by the News found that treating people with liver disease, hepatitis and liver cirrhosis cost East Berkshire Clinical Commissioning Group (EBCCG) almost £1m in the three-year time period.

Alcohol related liver diseases (ARLD) including alcoholic cirrhosis of the liver, alcoholic fatty liver, alcoholic hepatic failure, alcoholic hepatitis and alcoholic liver disease affected 42 adults in Bracknell in the three year period.

However 313 adults were treated for ARLD in Slough over the time period, and 257 were diagnosed in Windsor and Maidenhead.

The amount of money spent on treating ARLD increased year-on-year for Bracknell, Slough and Windsor and Maidenhead in the two full years investigated, suggesting more adults are needing treatment for the diseases.

Last year saw more than £500,000 was spent on treating ARLD in East Berkshire.

Alcoholic cirrhosis of the liver was the most expensive disease for the NHS to treat in Bracknell, Slough and Windsor and Maidenhead over the last three years, with treatment for this disease totalling more than half of the combined cost of treating all five diseases.

Records show that over the last four years 31 people have died from ARLD in East Berkshire, with ten dying last year.

Three of these deaths were in Bracknell, but most deaths occurred in Slough.

According to charity Drink Aware, 53 per cent of men said that they had drunk in the last year compared to 62 per cent of women in 2016.

In the same year, 5 per cent of men and 2 per cent of women said that their average weekly alcohol consumption was more than 50 units.

Research undertaken by the World Health Organisation showed the average consumption of alcohol in the UK in 2015 was 10.66 litres – a higher amount than the average in both Norway and New Zealand, but lower than Ireland and France.

East Berkshire CCG was contacted for comment.