Tackling alcohol problems in hospital 
Published by Phyllis Cannon April 7, 2008 in Substance Misuse. 
Comments (7)
I am the Turning Point hospital worker at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Gateshead. Turning Point has three of us: my colleagues Geoff in Sunderland and Julius in Watford are doing the same thing in their local hospitals, seeing people who have drink problems referred from A and E and other hospital departments.
Yet it’s the doctors, nurses, and other hospital staff that get the ball rolling: they are the ones that identify patients for whom alcohol may be an issue, so we are in partnership with the NHS on this. They initiate discussions with patients about alcohol use and screen patients to determine if a referral should be made to us – the hospital alcohol workers. It is important to emphasise that contact with the alcohol worker is only arranged with the patient’s consent.
Continue reading Tackling alcohol problems in hospital
Alcohol Awareness Week 2008
Published by Steve Palmer April 4, 2008 in Substance Misuse. Comments (1)
Monday 7 April marks the start of Alcohol Concern’s Alcohol Awareness Week. This is an important week as it aims to raise awareness of the sensible drinking message among the general public and also persuade policy makers at both the national and local levels to devote greater resources to alcohol treatment.
During the week all blogs uploaded to this site will be about alcohol so please visit us again and see what’s new. Remember that you can also share your thoughts or experiences by leaving a comment below.
Until then you can read Ronnie’s story.
For more information please visit Alcohol Concern’s website.
Alcohol debate in the news
Published by Steve Palmer November 13, 2007 in Case Studies, Government, Substance Misuse. Comments (2)
Today, The Nuffield Council on Bioethics has published a report which identifies alcohol consumption as a huge public health problem in the UK, and as a particular area where the Government should do more. It says that increasing tax on alcohol and restricting hours of sale have been shown to be effective in reducing alcohol consumption. They go on to say that the Government’s alcohol strategy has focused on public information campaigns and voluntary labelling schemes: measures, they claim, that have been shown not to be effective. Continue reading Alcohol debate in the news
What do people think of the Government’s Alcohol Strategy?
Published by Steve Palmer June 6, 2007 in Substance Misuse. Comments (2)
The Government launched a new alcohol strategy “Safe. Sensible. Social” on the 5 June. In it they say they want to target certain groups: Young people under 18, 18–24 year old “binge drinkers” and “harmful drinkers”, who are older and drinking at home. Continue reading What do people think of the Government’s Alcohol Strategy?
