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FOCUS ON ALCOHOL FOR NEW
LONG-TERM NHS PLAN
ALCOHOL CARE TEAMS WILL OFFER SUPPORT TO
ALCOHOL-DEPENDENT PATIENTS IN MORE HOSPITALS, as
part of the new NHS long-term plan. The teams will be
rolled out in hospitals with the highest number of
alcohol-related admissions to provide help to patients
and their families, with the service to be made available
in the ‘25 per cent worst affected parts of the country’.
Alcohol care teams in hospitals in Bolton, Salford,
Nottingham, Liverpool, Portsmouth and London have
already led to a reduction in A&E attendances and
readmissions, says the NHS, while ambulance call outs
have also ‘significantly reduced’. The new teams will work
in as many as 50 settings across the country, delivering
alcohol checks and providing rapid access to counselling
and medically assisted help to give up alcohol and
support to stay off it. Although hospital-based, the teams
will work with local community services to ‘ensure all
needs, including any other health needs, are met’.
Alcohol-related hospital admissions have increased by
17 per cent over the course of a decade, to 337,000 in
2016-17. NHS England estimates the annual cost of
alcohol-related harm at £3.5bn. The initiative is part of a
major focus on prevention in the new NHS plan,
alongside support for patients who smoke and action on
obesity and diabetes.
‘Drinking to excess can destroy families, with the NHS
too often left to pick up the pieces,’ said NHS England
chief executive Simon Stevens. ‘Alcohol and tobacco
addiction remain two of the biggest causes of ill health
and early death, and the right support can save lives. The
NHS long-term plan delivers a sea change in care for a
range of major conditions like cancer, mental ill health
and heart disease, as well as stepping up to do more on
preventing ill health in the first place by giving patients
the support they need
to take greater control
of their own health
and stay fitter longer.’
The focus on
managing alcohol-
related ill health was
‘very welcome’, said
Royal College of
Physicians president
Andrew Goddard. ‘It is
an increasing problem
in our hospitals where
many patients first
come to the
attention of the
NHS. We mustn’t
forget prevention
though and further
measures to reduce
harmful drinking are
SimoN STeveNS
much needed.’
Meanwhile,
alcohol-related deaths in Northern Ireland have reached
their highest ever level after four years of consecutive
increases, according to the Northern Ireland Statistics and
Research Agency (NISRA). More than 300 deaths were the
result of alcohol-related causes in 2017, a 70 per cent
increase since records began in 2001. There were ‘notably
higher’ numbers of alcohol-related deaths in areas of
deprivation, said NISRA.
www.longtermplan.nhs.uk
Alcohol related deaths registered in Northern Ireland,
2007-2017 at www.nisra.gov.uk
‘The NHS is too
often left to pick
up the pieces.’
ZERO TOLERANCE
SCOTLAND IS TO INTRODUCE A ‘ZERO TOLERANCE’
APPROACH to drug driving from October. There
will no longer be any requirement to prove
someone was driving ‘in an impaired manner’, the
Scottish Government states, with limits for eight
of the most common illicit drugs set a level ‘where
any claims of accidental exposure can be ruled
out’. Drugs associated with medical use,
meanwhile, will have limits based on impairment
and risk to road safety. ‘Drug driving is completely
unacceptable, and we will continue to use all of
the tools at our disposal to prevent the
avoidable deaths and damage caused by
those who drive under the influence of
drugs,’ said justice secretary Humza Yousaf.
‘Together with our stringent drink-driving
limits, these new laws will ensure that
Scotland has the UK’s most robust laws
against impaired and unsafe driving.’
BLENHEIM CDP AND HEALTH AND SOCIAL CARE
CHARITY HUMANKIND have confirmed that the
two organisations will merge in April. The new
organisation, which will be called Humankind,
will employ more than 1,100 staff, offer a
comprehensive range of services including
housing and health, and work in partnership
with providers across the health and social care
spectrum. ‘Blenheim’s passion and belief in
people’s capacity to change has been at the
heart of the organisation for the last 55 years,
driving delivery of excellent services and
effective campaigning for best practice,’ said
chair of Blenheim’s board of trustees, Eric Feltin.
‘By coming together, our joint organisation will
have much greater reach to deliver this best
practice and have the resources to drive further
innovation, developing more compelling
services as a result.’
CHEMSEX SUPPORT
A FREE RESOURCE FOR FAMILIES, partners and
friends of LGBT people using drugs, alcohol or
engaging in chemsex has been produced by
Adfam and London Friend. ‘Supporting a
friend, partner, or
family member
affected by
problematic alcohol
or drug use can be
difficult,’ says
Adfam. ‘Although
family support
groups exist, they
are not generally
LGBT specific, and
people attending
may not feel
comfortable talking
about a same-sex partner, or about sensitive
issues such as chemsex.’ Chemsex: more than
just sex & drugs at adfam.org.uk
COST COMPARISON
‘New laws will ensure
that Scotland has the
Uk’s most robust laws.’
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HUMAN TOUCH
HUmza YoUSaf.
NEEDLE AND SYRINGE PROGRAMMES (NSPs)
are a ‘highly cost-effective’ way of preventing
hepatitis C transmission, according to research
by the University of Bristol and the London
School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. With
more than 90 per cent of new HCV infections
acquired through injecting drugs, NSPs could
save ‘million of pounds in treatment costs in
the UK’, say researchers. NSPs ‘not only reduce
the number of new HCV infections among
people who inject drugs and improve their
quality of life, they are also low-cost, excell -
ent value for money and, in some areas, save
money, which is good news for our cash-
strapped local authorities,’ said co-lead author
Dr Zoe Ward. Report at
www.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/add
.14519
February 2019 | drinkanddrugsnews | 5