'Nothing patriotic about drinking until you injure yourself' plea to Hartlepool football fans

North Tees and Hartlepool NHS Foundation Trust saw an influx in admissions with injuries sustained on Sunday after England’s opening game victory against Croatia.

The trust treated 569 people in Emergency and Urgent Care the day after – about 250 people more than usual.

Many injuries appeared to be alcohol related with head injuries, cuts requiring stitches, twisted ankles, damaged wrists and wounds from assaults being common.

Some patients even reported being too drunk on Sunday to receive treatment, making applying dressings and stitches more problematic for clinical staff.

With England facing Scotland on Friday night, trust medical director Deepak Dwarakanath said: “Let’s be clear, drinking until you injure yourself is not how you celebrate a victory for the national team.

“Our emergency team need to be on hand for people who fall seriously ill or are injured after an accident.

"Frankly, no one trains to become a nurse or doctor to stitch people up with easily preventable injuries caused by drinking too much.

“We don’t want to spoil anyone’s fun, and we know the vast majority of people enjoyed the match without incident, but there is nothing patriotic about diverting our colleagues’ attention from their patients or wasting NHS resources.”

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