Alcohol Policy UK

Alcohol Policy UK podcast: Don't Walk Away (APUK10)

A Merseyside paramedic’s campaign to tackle teenage binge-drinking has been taken up as an example of good practice by alcohol abuse teams in France, Jersey and South Africa.

Steve Evans, who works for North West Ambulance Service, has won numerous awards for his Don’t Walk Away campaign designed to teach young people to deal with the consequences of alcohol abuse.

Since he started the campaign more than five years ago he has distributed more than 10,000 packs of information consisting of posters, first aid advice leaflets, power point presentations, lesson plans and DVDs (see Resources, below), via schools, youth organisations and simply meeting youngsters on the streets round the region.

Don’t Walk Away takes a hands-on approach to giving young people the knowledge about what to do when one of their group has consumed too much alcohol, by telling them how to put a person into the recovery position to prevent choking, what to do with an unconscious person, how to make the area safe and how to prevent hypothermia.

This podcast features an interview with Steve Evans.

 

00.00 Intro, music by Kaimoku

00.19 Introduction; get in touch by email; waxmail; or leave a comment on the site

05.53 What children drink...vodka, white cider, Lambrini

07.01 Under 18 alcohol-related hospital admissions data, NWPHO

10.30 Department of Health advice on alcohol poisoning etc

11.25 Teachernet

13.32 Don't Walk Away posters in TV soaps: The Bill, Emmerdale, Holby City

15.15 Using Rotary International to get the message out

17.53 Effectiveness of the campaign

19.30 Children's drinking etiquette

20.20 Music: Sinkin Drinkin Fits by Jessy Moss

download the mp3 file (right click on the icon), listen now, or subscribe to the podcast by pasting this code into your podcatcher (eg iTunes):

http://feeds.feedburner.com/AlcoholPolicyUk

Resources

• Don't Walk Away Powerpoint presentation
• "When things go wrong" first aid advice
• Don't Walk Away video about the campaign (see below)

 

alcohol strategy action planning workshops: working with DV survivors with alcohol problems

alcoholpolicy.net and LDAN
alcohol strategy action planning workshops
workshop four: alcohol and domestic violence – working with women who experience both
Wednesday 15th August, 2 to 4.30pm, Central London

The workshop will explore the links between alcohol use and domestic violence, as well as policy and best practice in working with both issues – from the survivor's perspective.  (Workshop five, on October 3rd will concentrate on perpetrators who have alcohol problems.)

Speakers include:

• Karen Bailey (Stella Project)
• Michelle Robson (DASL Star Project)
• Foziha Raja (EACH)
• Cordelia Mayfield (ARP; tbc) 

Topics include:

• research and theory on alcohol use and DV
• working with DV within a substance misuse service
• working with Asian women
• joint working in practice
• the Cycle of Change for women

This workshop is the fourth in a series of six practical workshops to bring you up to speed with the latest stuff, and help you make progress on alcohol.

aim: to drive local action on alcohol through practical guidance target audience: local alcohol champions (we mean anyone who wants to get things moving on alcohol)

why attend: these workshops will change your (working) life.  Action on alcohol has been bogged down in talking endlessly about all too familiar problems, and waiting for funding.  There is important work we can be doing now, with existing resources.  Come and get started.

about us: alcoholpolicy.net is behind the website and podcast for the alcohol harm reduction field.  We are an informal network of consultants, researchers and practitioners, keen to share our learning and ideas. Our motto: nonus wheela reinventare.  LDAN is the London Drug and Alcohol Network – developing substance misuse policy and supporting the capital’s treatment sector

other info: the workshops are free.  Materials and audio from the workshops will also be freely available on www.alcoholpolicy.net to book contact Shona Flannigan  at shona.flannigan@ldan.org.uk or 020 7704 0004

Industry news: Greene King's neighbourliness; Bargain Booze expansion

• From the Morning Advertiser: Greene King is to withdraw its High Court appeal to gain costs from a group of local residents who opposed the opening hours at one of its pubs. The dispute – over extended hours at the Dog and Partridge pub in Bury St Edmunds – has been ongoing for 22 months.

Greene King had been pushing to recoup its legal costs after it won its case [heard by magistrates at appeal] over extended hours but was not awarded costs. Now the parties have agreed to resolve the issue out of court.

Greene King Local Pubs managing director Jonathan Lawson said:

"We have taken the decision to abandon our appeal to prevent wasting the time and resource of all those involved and to spare the individuals from going through a High Court hearing.

"It was never our intention to make life difficult for them, or to take anything more than token costs: our aim was simply to challenge what we regarded as an unjust decision by the Magistrates."

• The decision to go to the High Court in the first place seems somewhat aggressive, especially since the residents who appealed against the Dog and Partridge decision live in the shadow of Greene King's brewery and HQ. 

Greene King made an operating profit of £218M last year.

• Bargain Booze is rolling out its convenience format nationwide after seeing strong sales in 10 trial stores in the north west and Wales. The shops, called Bargain Booze Select Convenience, will be expected to generate an annual turnover of between £25,000 and £30,000, according to joint managing director Matthew Hughes.

They will typically have floor space between 1,200 and 3,000 sq ft, around two -thirds of which will be devoted to groceries.  Hughes said the shops will have a separate identity to Bargain Booze stores. "They will be fitted out at the premium end rather than the discount end of Bargain Booze," he said. Wine and beers will be displayed in open-deck chillers rather than using traditional shelving and the shops will be "bright and modern" with tiled floors , Hughes added.  Off License News

New research alcohol-related admissions to A&E

Two studies were released in the last couple of weeks that tell different stories about the impact of the government's alcohol policies on alcohol-related admissions to Accident and Emergency Departments.

Newton et al's Impact of the new UK licensing law on emergency hospital attendances: a cohort study was a retrospective cohort study at the emergency department of St Thomas’ Hospital, London over 2 months, one before and one after the introduction of the new legislation.

All people over the age of 16 years who attended the emergency department between 21:00 and 09:00 during the two study periods (March 2005 and March 2006) were included. An alcohol-related attendance was defined as having occurred if there was documentation of alcohol consumption before attendance, or of alcohol intoxication in relation to the patient’s physical examination or final diagnosis.

The authors conclude that:

Overnight alcohol related emergency attendances to St Thomas’ hospital increased after the introduction of new alcohol licensing legislation. If reproduced over longer time periods and across the UK as a whole, the additional burden on emergency care could be substantial.  Abstract.

In the same edition (August 1 2007, Volume 24, Issue 8) of Emergency Medicine Journal, is Patton et al's Alcohol: a missed opportunity. A survey of all accident and emergency departments in England.  The aim of this study was to determine the extent to which the recommendations of the alcohol harm reduction strategy for England and the Choosing Health white paper for the provision of screening and brief interventions for hazardous and harmful drinkers have been adopted by accident and emergency departments.

The researchers found that:

• 4 departments (of a total of 191) use formal screening tools and 24 ask general questions about consumption (98.9% response rate).
• Blood alcohol levels were measured as required by 100 departments.
• No departments routinely measure blood alcohol, and 84 departments never assess blood alcohol levels.
• Alcohol-related attendances were formally recorded by 131 departments.
• Access to an alcohol health worker or a clinical nurse specialist was reported by 32 departments.

The conclusion:

Although departments may be willing to address hazardous alcohol consumption, the low numbers of departments utilising formal screening tools suggests that patients who may benefit from help or advice remain undetected.  Abstract

See also "Hospitals do not probe drinking" BBC News story

Using Conditional Cautioning to tackle alcohol related crime

Conditional cautioning is an out-of-court disposal where a caution is approved by the CPS and issued by the police with conditions attached. Offenders must be 18+ and have must have admitted their guilt before a conditional caution can be offered.

Conditional Cautions are generally appropriate for relatively low level offences including theft, criminal damage (e.g. graffiti), and some assaults (where the victim’s views would be particularly significant). Each case is treated on its merits. The disposal can be used for offences where alcohol has played a part in offenders’ behaviour.

This briefing paper from the Office for Criminal Justice Reform explains how Conditional Cautions can be used to tackle alcohol-related crime.   Download

School-based interventions on alcohol: NICE consultation on draft guidance

The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) is consulting on its draft guidance relating to interventions delivered in primary and secondary schools to prevent and/or reduce alcohol use by young people under 18 years old.

Registered stakeholders* are invited to comment on the draft guidance document which entails the draft recommendations.

This consultation will take place between Monday 9 July and Monday 6 August 2007. Please provide all responses to this draft guidance using the Stakeholder Comments Form (ensuring all relevant fields are completed, including your organisation’s name) and forwarding this by 5pm on Monday 6th August 2007  to alcoholandschools@nice.org.uk

NICE webpage with links to background documents
Draft guidance

*Public health guidance stakeholders are:

• national organisations that represent health professionals directly providing those services affected by the guidance
• research organisations and academic institutions with a specific interest in the topic and nationally recognised research in the area
• national organisations that represent the interests of patients, carers or the public
• a provider or commissioner of health services in England (selected by NICE)
• a statutory organisation, for example, the Department of Health, Health Care Commission, the Modernisation Agency and the National Patient Safety Agency.

"For practical reasons, local patient/carer and professional groups cannot register as stakeholders, and nor can individuals. However, they are encouraged to participate through an appropriate registered stakeholder."  (There's a list here )

NERAF launches community alcohol information, treatment & aftercare centre

All are welcome at NERAF's AGM and launch of "the UK’s first community alcohol information, treatment and aftercare centre" * on 3rd September 2007.

*see below for an explanation

• NERAF are a regional organisation supportive of North East Alcohol Misuse Statement of Priorities , and invite all agencies that are providing a response or service aimed at tackling alcohol misuse whether it be by treatment, prevention or control to display such at this event.

• This is free of charge but spaces must be booked by 20th August. Such displays to be in place by 12-30pm on the day. Directions for Angel House, Sunderland, are on the Contact page of the NERAF website.

• More details of the event here.

The Commuinty Alcohol Misuse Project
Kev Martin, NERAF Cheif Exec, writes:

The community alcohol misuse project has came in to being as a result of local residents of Hendon, Sunderland, expressing their concerns about lack of treatment availability and the fact that people were having to wait 11 months for treatment. The pilot project is funded by New Deals for Communities and brings a partnership working between Back on The Map (urban regeneration) Sunderland Teaching Primary Care Trust and NERAF. The first of its kind the project provides information, treatment and aftercare.

The project has two principal components, each coming from a different discipline yet able to offer a seamless accessible service for the residents of Hendon. The first focuses upon a clinical post, working directly with those who have complex needs requiring intensive support, including detoxification and rehabilitation. The second element works with those individuals in the community who are principally hazardous and harmful drinkers, and those needing long term support to achieve their drinking goals.

It utilises local services and groups, and uniquely increases capacity by training and supporting local people to become accredited mentors and educators. It also has the capacity to undertake prevention work – once again working with local people.

Community based support will be delivered by NERAF which is an independent charity. The service they will develop and deliver will be using locally trained mentors working with and supporting individuals who are experiencing problems with their drinking.

Many mentors themselves have experienced alcohol problems in the past, and as such, understand what the individual is experiencing. They act as a support network operating within a peer support role which includes helping people access services within the community.

This project offers an innovative and direct way of engaging with residents who are identified as requiring treatment. It offers a local solution. The project works in an individual’s home area and integrates with existing health and lifestyle programmes. It will offer 24-hour support, and operate at weekends when people are often vulnerable.

It offers the best of both the statutory (NHS) and voluntary sector (NERAF). It goes beyond treatment by developing prevention and awareness programmes, which will involve local people. The benefits will include training and accreditation, enabling residents to gain not only experience, but also qualifications.

CDRP statutory instruments: breakthrough on alcohol-related data and local alcohol strategy

Two new statutory instruments relating to Crime and Disorder Reduction Partnership (CDRP) reform under the Police and Justice Act 2006 will come into force on August 1st (England only).

SI 1830: The Crime and Disorder (Formulation and Implementation of Strategy) Regulations 2007 obliges CDRPs to:

• carry out annual strategic assessments - to include the impact of alcohol misuse on crime and disorder
• prepare annual community safety agreements that identify how partners should work together
• prepare a three year strategy for the reduction of crime and disorder and for combating substance misuse in the area.  'Substance misuse' explicitly includes alcohol.  The plan is to be revised at the beginning of each year. 

See also Explanatory Memorandum here.
SI1830 makes compulsory the preparation of local alcohol strategies mentioned in the Government's updated alcohol strategy for England Safe. Sensible. Social.

 

SI 1831: The Crime and Disorder (Prescribed Information) Regulations 2007 sets out what information CDRP partners must share.  Crucially for alcohol, it places a duty on PCTs to provide quarterly submissions to the CDRP, with depersonalised data as follows:

• the general postcode address of persons resident in the area admitted to hospital, the date of such admissions and the sub-categories of each admission within the blocks
  • assault (X85-Y09)
  • mental and behavioural disorders due to psychoactive substance use (F10-F19)
  • toxic effect of alcohol (T51)
  • other entries where there is evidence of alcohol involvement determined by blood alcohol level (Y90) or evidence of alcohol involvement determined by level of intoxication (Y91)
• the general postcode address of persons resident in the area admitted to hospital in respect of domestic abuse, and the date of such admissions.

• the location, time and date of ambulance service calls to incidents relating to crime and disorder and the category of such incidents using any system for classifying crime and disorder used by that authority.

See also Explanatory Memorandum here.

Smoking ban causing problems outside pubs

Police in Devon and Cornwall have threatened to shut down pubs that fail to control customers smoking outside. Officers say there are problems with customers taking drinks outside in local no-alcohol zones.

They also complain that people are blocking the streets, particularly at the weekend. Licensees were warned of the police concerns at a recent pubwatch meeting and some pubs were sent individual letters.

Inspector Dave Scott said: “It’s a very serious problem and we’re prepared to take serious action against landlords that fail to control smokers.

“We had an awful weekend, people were standing in the middle of the road and blocking traffic - there was immense potential for crime and disorder. It was a threatening atmosphere, pedestrians and motorists passing through the main area of the town were badly affected.

“Pubs with no proper smoking area are the biggest problem - they must put measures in place to stop people bringing their drinks outside.”

Nancy Thomas, of Nancy’s Pub in Falmouth town centre, said: “I’m sympathetic to the police, they’ve got a lot to deal with but it’s very difficult to control people outside when you’re behind the bar. There’s a lot trouble outside my pub and the people causing it are not necessarily my customers.”

Morning Advertiser - see also the comments following the article

2005/06 statistics published on A&E alcohol admissions for under 15s

The number of children aged 15 and under being admitted to A&E departments with alcohol-related problems rose to nearly 4,000 in 2005-06.

The statistics, which came from the answer to a Parliamentary Question by Liberal Democrat Health Spokesperson, Sandra Gidley MP, show that 3,939 children were admitted to A&E with alcohol-related problems, the highest total for at least five years.

Separate figures also uncovered by the Liberal Democrats show a growing gap between teenage girls and boys admitted to A&E for the toxic effects of alcohol:

• In 2005/06 the figure was 62% girls and 38% boys.
• In 2001/02 the figures for girls and boys were split almost evenly at 51% to 49%.

Commenting, Sandra Gidley said:

"This is a frightening sign of how out of control the binge drinking culture in this country has become. Our A&E departments are having to cope with drunkenness on a massive scale.

"It is our young people - and girls in particular - who are most at risk. "Problem drinking starts at an early age, yet the Government is failing to focus its resources on the young and is not launching any new measures against binge drinking until sometime next year.

"Our young people simply cannot wait this long. As well as causing chaos in A&Es on Friday nights and anti-social behaviour, irresponsible drinking results in serious long-term health problems.

"A fresh look at tackling the growing problem of excessive drinking is long overdue. A good start would be cracking down on those shops that sell alcohol to underage children. We also need to consider putting a halt to supermarkets selling drinks at rock bottom prices - with no thought as to the knock on effects."

Liberal Democrats

Two weeks ago Gidley introduced a Bill in the House of Commons that would restrict alcohol advertising and clamp down on alcohol related offences. The Bill calls for Gordon Brown to 'turn warms words into positive action' on alcohol abuse.

The Bill would ban advertising of alcohol before the television watershed and in cinemas, except during films with a rating of '18'. The new law would also set a date on which all alcoholic drinks would have to be labelled with the number of units they contain, along with a reminder about safe drinking limits.  Sandra Gidley's website