23 September 2025
Today (Tuesday 23 September) the National Records of Scotland published its annual report on alcohol-specific deaths in Scotland (covering 2024). The report finds that:
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In 2024, there were 1,185 alcohol-specific deaths registered in Scotland, a decrease of 7% compared with 2023.
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Alcohol-specific mortality rates were 4.5 times as high in the most deprived areas of Scotland compared to the least deprived areas in 2024.
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In 2023, Scotland continued to have the highest rate of alcohol-specific deaths of the UK constituent countries, though the difference has narrowed over time. Data for 2023 is the latest year that data is available across the UK.
Louise Stewart, director for Scotland at WithYou, says:
“While today’s report shows our treatment and harm reduction approaches are beginning to make a difference, the loss of 1,185 lives in 2024 makes it clear that much more must be done.
“To demonstrate a real commitment to reducing alcohol-specific deaths, we are calling for alcohol care and treatment standards that ensure that people who need support now have a choice of treatment, as well as access to support and harm reduction measures, wherever they are in Scotland.
“We urge the Scottish Government to implement a comprehensive alcohol strategy that properly invests in prevention and to take urgent, ambitious, and far-reaching action to prevent today’s children and young people from becoming figures in a report published 10, 20, or even 30 years from now.
“For me, that means taking a whole-population approach to addressing health inequalities and improving quality of life in our most deprived communities, where you are 4.5 times more likely to die from an alcohol related death. Only by tackling root causes and our attitudes towards alcohol can we really turn the tide to stop Scotland’s harmful relationship with alcohol.
“Today, my thoughts are with all those who we lost to an alcohol-related death, and with their families and friends.
“To anyone who is worried about their drinking or that of a loved one, please get in touch. As well as delivering services in communities, WithYou offers a free and confidential webchat. This is a great first point of contact for anyone who is worried about their alcohol use or that of a loved one. Visit wearewithyou.org.uk today.”
Client story
Sheila Fairley, 57, The Borders
“I phoned my friend one night and said that I was going to end it, I couldn't do it any longer,” says Sheila Fairley, 57. “My life was in such a turmoil and it was going to go one way or the other. It could be me on the other side of this story.”
By the time Sheila was 19 she was drinking every day, as part of her job working on the bar at the local hotel. But alcohol didn’t become a serious problem for her until her mum died when she was 38. Sheila was the assistant manager of a care home so, despite being the youngest of three siblings, there was significant pressure on her to speak to the doctors and take care of her grieving father.
The night her mother died, she had a drink to steady her. She says, “I say that whiskey, was the whiskey that made me drink. It helped me forget and it let me get to sleep, and I think that was the start.”
From there Sheila started having a glass of wine every night, which became half a bottle, and then a bottle. When her father passed away not long after her mother, the grief became even more overwhelming.
At the beginning of the pandemic, Sheila got sick with Covid, and the subsequent problems with her breathing meant she couldn’t go back to work. She was also suffering problems with her legs and mobility.
She was drinking between three and six bottles of wine a night, and was making frequent visits to the hospital for stomach problems caused by the alcohol. Her life was in turmoil, “I phoned my friend one night and said that I was just going to end it, I couldn't do it any longer. She called the police and they came and took me to hospital, where I sat and waited a couple of hours for the crisis team, and they walked into the cubicle, and the first thing that came out their mouth was, ‘Well, we can't keep you. You'll have to go home.’ And I had to go home at 5am.”
The local authority offered Sheila someone to speak to each week so she wasn’t lonely during the pandemic. She accepted and Trish from Penumbra Mental Health began calling her every week. By this point, her living situation had significantly deteriorated. “You couldn’t move in the living room for bottles,” she says. “There were empty bottles everywhere, in rows. My kitchen was a state and my fridge was disgusting - everything was moldy, and the flies had gotten in. I can’t believe I lived like that. I never thought that I would ever, ever be in that state. What must my house have smelled like?”
Sheila knew she needed help, but was too embarrassed to let Trish visit. However Trish persevered, continuing to offer support and eventually, Sheila let her in. "She didn't once judge me, not once,” says Sheila. Trish helped her clean and speak to the council who got her into a downstairs property. Sheila says, “When I moved in here I vowed this was going to be my fresh start, my new life, and two months after I moved in I broke my shoulder. It was the best thing that ever happened because I couldn't get my wine, I just had to go cold turkey.” Despite suffering from withdrawals which sent her to the hospital on one occasion, Sheila says she was happy. “I was having a great time in this little house. It was wonderful. I was dead proud of myself. I'm not saying it was easy, but I was getting on with it.”
When Sheila’s sister died from cancer, Sheila started drinking again, quickly returning to six bottles a night. “I didn't want to be drinking anymore. I'd had that nice bit of months where I was sober, and I really didn't want the drink anymore.”
Sheila got back in touch with WithYou, and admitted to her brother how much she'd been drinking, even though she was afraid he would reject her. Though initially shocked, he listened and understood, immediately stepping up with unwavering support, becoming her rock throughout recovery - Sheila says he has been “absolutely outstanding”. Sheila entered rehab in spring 2023 and she’s now been sober for 18 months, and is supported by her network of friends, family and loved ones; medication to help with cravings; and WithYou’s ongoing services which includes weekly online meetings.
Sheila didn’t try to cover up what had happened to her - when she made a video for Penumbra Mental Health she even posted it on Facebook. “The whole town knows, but I told the whole town. I wanted to tell them. People came up to me and said ‘well done,’ and ‘good on ye hen’. I never thought I would have that kind of encouragement or support - I didn’t have one bad word said to me. I wish I’d spoken up years ago.”
Sheila is sharing her story again today as statistics have been published reporting the number of alcohol-specific deaths in 2024. “It could be me on the other side of this story,” she says. “I want people to know that there's help out there. There's good people that are there to help you, and you won't be judged. Sometimes it even comes from the people you’d least expect it from.”
“You're a person, and your world could be so much better. No matter what took you to the drink - whether it was bereavement, debt, marriage breakup, anything - you need to get yourself sober because there's a world out there that is so much better than what you've got now.”
“I can honestly say I'll never have another drink, and the thought of that before was horrendous, because I couldn't imagine my life without a drink. Now I can. Don't give up on yourself if you go back to drinking, keep trying, because one of these times it will be the right time.”
