Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to ensure specialist alcohol care teams are provided in hospitals which serve the 25% of areas with the highest rates of (a) alcohol harm and (b) socioeconomic deprivation.

We are continuing to invest in the rollout of Alcohol Care Teams to the 25% of eligible hospital sites with the highest rates of deprivation and alcohol-related mortality, as committed to in the NHS Long Term Plan. At the end of March 2023, 31 out of 47 sites reported that they were optimally staffed, in line with the NHS Long Term Plan commitments.