Emergency hospital staff coping with a 50 per cent jump in the number of people suffering alcohol-related injuries and illnesses admitted it was putting a huge strain on the NHS.

Government figures show alcohol related admissions to Oxford’s John Radcliffe and Banbury’s Horton Hospitals accident and emergency departments shot from 2,517 in 2003/04 to 3,781 in 2007/08.

It comes as nurses and doctors battle to deal with an increase in alcoholics and people who have been involved in fights after drinking too much.

Meanwhile, a consultant based at the John Radcliffe last night also revealed patients younger than ever before are being treated for liver cirrhosis because of their drinking habits.

And Michelle Brock, matron at the John Radcliffe’s emergency department, revealed that on a Friday or Saturday night, up to 60 per cent of admissions to A&E were down to booze.

She said: “We were one of the first NHS trusts in the country to start collecting figures on alcohol related attendances to the emergency department and they have proved what we all knew already – alcohol is a growing problem for the NHS and one which brings extra pressures for staff and other patients.

“It is impossible to put a true figure on the cost of dealing with alcohol related attendances, but many of these patients require x-rays, CT scans and treatment as well as careful observation and often an overnight stay, so it is easy to see that there are high costs involved.”

Ambulance station manager Maria Langler said most drunken injuries tended to be as the result of assaults, such as black eyes and broken noses.

She said: “There are also the injuries which result from the sense of false confidence drink can give.”

The impact is starting to be felt beyond the casualty room.

Drug addiction charity Evolve, based in Ferry Hinksey Road, Oxford, said it has also seen a rise in people aged 10 to 18 needing help with alcohol issues.

And Jane Collier, consultant hepatologist at the John Radcliffe, said she was now beginning to see younger patients turning up with serious liver diseases.

She said: “Staff in A&E see the immediate effects of alcohol, whereas I see the long-term damage. I am seeing more and more patients presenting with end stage liver disease as a result of drinking alcohol.

“Whereas the youngest people I would have seen 10 years ago would be patients in their 40s and 50s now I am seeing people in their 30s, and I have even had two cases in the past two years of people in their 20s.

“In England alcohol is cheap, it is easy to get hold of and it is very much part of our culture. But it is putting a huge strain on the NHS.

“When I look at my ward I would say 90 per cent of the patients are there because of alcohol related illnesses.“ Dr Collier said a big problem was people drinking at home.

She said: “These days people will think nothing of going home and having a bottle of wine, and wine in particular has become more concentrated. Before people would drink a bottle of Blue Nun, which is about eight or nine per cent, but people’s tastes have changed.

“Now the average bottle of wine is about 12 or 13 per cent, and can have up to ten units in it.”