Wales’ Chief Medical Officer warns New Year’s revellers not to ‘drink too much’

The chief medical officer for Wales has told New Year’s Eve revellers “don’t drink too much” to help reduce pressure on the over-stretched health service.

Sir Frank Atherton told BBC One’s Breakfast programme: “I agree people generally behave very sensibly.

“Sadly, when alcohol gets thrown into the mix, and it gets thrown in a big way in new year, that can sometimes go out of the window, and so we are asking people to behave sensibly, don’t put themselves at risk, don’t put others at risk, look after each other when you’re out and about, don’t drink too much and don’t get into trouble.

“We do see that, sadly, in the UK at this time of year.

“Similarly, this is not the time to be putting yourself at risk with dangerous activities, anything that increases the risk to you in person, given the fact we do have delays to ambulance services and they really can only meet the needs of the most seriously ill.”

Reduce the risk

Asked what activities people should avoid to reduce the risk of injury, he added: “Now is not the time to be going out and starting to do a huge long run.

“We want people to get fit and active in the new year, of course we do, but do it sensibly, think about pacing yourself, about not taking on too much all at once.

“Keeping yourself warm at home is really important as well, looking after your health, I know that’s very difficult with the cost-of-living crisis.

“Watch out for your loved ones, make sure that people are kept safe, particularly the elderly at this time of year, that they are well hydrated at home, because people can get dehydrated very quickly, and we know that elderly people who get dehydrated then run into problems with frailty, they have falls, they need to be brought to hospital.

“So we can look after each other and look after ourselves and keep the NHS capacity for those who really need it.”