Alcohol

Alcohol is a used and enjoyed by many people, however many people may not realise they are drinking more than recommended amounts. For some people this can lead to harmful levels of drinking, and for others alcohol can become a powerful addiction.

We measure the amount of alcohol in ‘units’ this is because alcohol is sold at different strengths and sizes so it allows you to understand how much you are drinking across all forms of alcoholic drinks. In the UK all alcohol sold should display the number of units on the bottle or glass.

Use a unit calculator

To keep your risk of alcohol-related harm low:

• everyone (regardless of gender) are advised not to drink more than 14 units of alcohol a week on a regular basis
• if you drink as much as 14 units a week, it’s best to spread this evenly over 3 or more days
• if you’re trying to reduce the amount of alcohol you drink, it’s a good idea to have several alcohol-free days each week
• if you’re pregnant or trying to become pregnant, the safest approach is to not drink alcohol at all to keep risks to your baby to a minimum

Check if you might be drinking too much

Alcohol is one of the leading causes of liver disease, but it has other important side effects too including impacting on mental health, increasing your risk of a several types of cancer, and affecting your weight.

Drug use

We know people use drugs for a variety of reasons, and we aren’t here to judge. We do want to ensure you have information to be as safe as possible, and to support to reduce your use. As GPs we can give general advice but we are unable to arrange detox or provide specialist advice.