The night of the New Year is always a very busy one at St Luke’s Hospital and this year was no exception with a total of 94 cases being registered at the casualty department between 10pm on New Year’s eve and 7am on New Year’s day.

As happens year in year out, excessive drinking and use of illicit drugs lead to a number of casualties. In fact, hospital superintendent Frank Bartolo said yesterday morning that 10 of the cases were related to alcohol intoxication, while there were one or two people admitted to hospital as a result of use of ecstasy.

Dr Bartolo said there were a further nine people who were admitted to hospital after they were involved in traffic accidents.