Deaths from Alcohol-Related Liver Disease in the UK: an Escalating Tragedy

In 2013, the UK National Confidential Enquiry into Patient Outcome and Death (NCEPOD) published Measuring the Units.1 This report on UK hospital deaths from alcohol-related liver disease in 2011 highlighted the avoidable nature of many of these deaths and found that care was less than good in more than half of the cases reviewed; basic omissions in patient care and missed opportunities were common, including the identification of patients with decompensated liver disease and initiation of simple urgent investigation and treatment.