Emergency doctors have slammed the increasing number of drunk ''bloody idiots'' filling Australian hospitals after a study found up to one in three emergency department patients last Saturday was there because of booze.

As most Australians start drinking their way through the festive season, a snapshot of thousands of patients in 92 emergency departments at 2am on Saturday found one in seven was there due to being either drunk or involved in an alcohol-related incident such as a car accident involving drink-driving. However, in some ''hot spots'' such as Melbourne's CBD the ratio was one in three.

Dr Diana Egerton-Warburton is fed up with the high number of drunk people filling emergency departments. Credit:Pat Scala

Dr Diana Egerton-Warburton said the Australasian College for Emergency Medicine survey results exceeded previous estimates of drunk patients and suggested drinking was a ''national sport'' for some people, who think it is acceptable to injure themselves or others.

''Emergency physicians are sick and tired of dealing with the 'bloody idiots' who drink alcohol in excess and end up in the ED. If you work in an ED with one in three patients affected by alcohol, it's more like a pub than a hospital. This is intolerable for staff and unfair on other patients," she said.