Alcohol-fuelled hospital admissions for Telford & Wrekin patients have dropped dramatically, reveals a new report to health service bosses.

The figures are described as “encouraging” and are the lowest for any quarterly period since April to June 2006. But the report warns: “It is too early to be confident that this is a sustainable trend, and we need to view performance over the next couple of quarters to be certain a step change has taken place.”

Figures show that in the third quarter of 2008/09 there were 124 “alcohol specific” and 405 “alcohol-related” admissions.

During the previous three months the figures were 197 and 491 respectively, which reflected the trend since 2006.

The report, being presented to the NHS Telford & Wrekin board next Tuesday, reveals the highest level of admissions was between July and September 2006 with 206 “alcohol specific” cases and 491 “alcohol related”.

Tackling alcohol-related harm is a key priority of the trust and, with other partners, it is implementing a strategy “Safe, Sensible and Social” to educate people to drink sensibly.

Admission rates to both Telford’s Princess Royal Hospital and the Royal Shrewsbury, as a result of alcohol misuse, shot up by more than a fifth after licensing laws relaxed. The casualty units rose from 945 in 2004/05 to 1,143 in 2006/07.

It has previously been claimed children as young as 12 are being admitted to county hospitals as a result of binge drinking.

Health studies have also shown that in Telford & Wrekin an estimated 23 per cent of men and 12 per cent of women are exceeding safe drinking levels and there is no evidence to suggest that this pattern is improving.

Nearly a third of young men and a quarter of young women, aged 18 to 24 years, are exceeding safe levels for weekly alcohol consumption.

And it has also been previously reported that male and female hospital admission rates for alcohol-related accidents have been significantly higher” than the national average since 2001/02.