Matt Lambert, CEO of the Portman Group – the alcohol social responsibility body and marketing regulator said:
“Whilst the long term downward trend in alcohol-related hospital admissions is to be welcomed, we recognise that today’s statistics do not provide a full and representative picture as the figures are from the height of the COVID-19 pandemic when general admissions were down.
“We repeat our call for the Scottish Government to take targeted measures to help those drinking at the heaviest and most harmful rates, who have been hit hard by the effects of the pandemic and subsequent lockdowns.”