Alcohol Policy UK

Funding opportunities for GP alcohol inteventions?

Ministers have put forward plans for  £50 million of clinical funding that would be partly used to pay for Screening and Brief Interventions (SBIs) by GPs. The funding would see the development of a number of Locally Enhanced Services for GPs, a framework by which GPs are paid to screen and offer appropriate interventions to patients.

The clinical funding, if approved, would also pay for enhanced services for GPs to address osteoporosis, heart failure, improved collection of ethnicity data and annual health checks for those with learning disabilities.

However a number of obstacles are likely to affect the implementation of any such clinical programmes within the development of GP services. These include the pay dispute involving the British Medical Association (BMA) and concerns over the position of such proposals in relation to the development of the Quality Outcomes Framework (QOF). Dr Ahmat Fuat, a GP in Darlington and deputy chairman of Primary Care cardio-vascular society, candidly rasied his concerns relating to alcohol treatment in primary care, stating: "You’d probably need £50m to tackle alcohol alone."

The Health Secretary Alan Johnson nonetheless highlighted the opportunities being made available within the new agendas, saying:

"‘This is about developing high-quality services with a strong focus on prevention. It’s a great opportunity for entrepreneurial GPs as well as social enterprises, voluntary organisations and the independent sector to develop innovative services."

Increasing numbers of PCTs are already commissioning alcohol enhanced services either through Choosing Health or other local funding streams such as in Lewisham.

For more information follow the Pulse medical journal for GPs.

Alcohol Primary Care Service Framework released

The NHS have released Primary Care Service Framework: Alcohol Services in Primary Care, designed to support commissioners, practitioners and providers in setting up alcohol interventions in primary care.

The document is likely to be welcomed across the country as increasing numbers of PCTs and local authorities are setting up Screening and Brief Intervention programmes within primary care settings, particularly with General Practitioners and in cases other settings such as pharmacies.

Previously there had been no specific frameworks to help local commissioners and practitioners set up such programmes, despite national guidance such as Models of Care for Alcohol Misusers (MoCAM) and Alcohol Misuse Interventions: Guidance on developing a local programme of improvement. The Alcohol Services in Primary Care Framework may be particularly useful in helping commissioners and practitioners:

• Scope and define suitable services
• Identify key agendas and frameworks
• Identify suitable evidence bases and local need
• Identify service objectives and intended health outcomes
• Set up suitable governance, monitoring and evaluation arrangements
• Identify suitable contract management
• Identify suitable review, variation and recommissioning process
• Find supporting documents, guidance, definitions and Read codes

Where commissioners may still be stuck is around pricing of services with no recommended or nationally agreed prices.

The new framework comes as part of 6 new Primary Care Service Frameworks falling within objectives of providing enhanced, localised service provision within the Practice Based Commissioning agenda.

Joseph Rowntree Foundation announce calls for proposals on 'Multiple Exclusion Homelessness'

A collaboration of key agencies have announced a 680K call for proposals to 'ensure that policy and practice responses to multiple exclusion homelessness are better informed by robust evidence.'

The Economic & Social Research Council (ESRC) have joined up with the Joespeh Rowntree Foundation, the Department for Communities and Local Government (CLG), and voluntary sector agencies such as Homeless Link to invite for proposals.

The specific objectives of the research have been announced as:

• to develop a scientifically rigorous account of the relationship between homelessness and other dimensions of 'deep' social exclusion;
• to attain a theoretically-informed understanding of the causes of multiple exclusion homelessness; and
• to shift thinking on multiple exclusion homelessness away from ‘a priori’ organisational categorisations, towards inductive analyses which start from the perspectives of people with relevant first-hand experience.

The deadline for receipt of applications is 4pm on 7 August 2008 though a launch event will be taking place on the 25th of June.

For more information or to book a place on the launch event see here

Concerns raised over Alcohol Disorder Zones

The Telegraph reports a parliamentary committee has said Alcohol Disorder Zones (ADZs) 'will fail' in their aim to curb alcohol related crime and disorder. ADZs were introduced as part of the Violent Crime Reduction Act 2006  to help local authorities to combat alcohol related disorder following changes brought about by the Licensing Act 2003.

ADZs are due to be launched this year, but the House of Lords report has accused the scheme of being 'unduly bureacratic' and unclear. No ADZ schemes appear to be have been launched yet although other powers, such as police directions to leave powers, are being used.

Alcohol Concern report: The extent of local alcohol commissioning?

Alcohol Concern have released The Poor Relation - has the emphasis on 'localism' really improved alcohol commissioning, which sets out the findings from Freedom of Information requests asking PCTs for data on a number of key alcohol spend indicators including:

• Spend on alcohol treatment  for 07/08 (and whether the £15 million Choosing Health money was used locally or not)
• Data on waiting times for accessing alcohol treatment
• The percentage of dependant drinkers in treatment
• Whether trusts had any information about hazardous, harmful and dependant drinkers

Nearly 40% of the trusts were not able to return the questionnaire but the report provides a compelling analysis of the extent of investment into alcohol treatment and of the changes to commissioning structures and the devolving of decisions to local level.  The report points out that 'MoCAM and other Department of Health related guidance have not improved alcohol commissioning or treatment provision at the local level.'  There is still a 'postcode lottery' concerning alcohol treatment, with huge variations in spend and provision across the country.

  The report recommends that:

• the local Pooled Treatment Budgets (for drug treatment) should include the funding of alcohol treatment where required in addition to existing PCT or local authority alcohol spend
• the Department of Health should set an optimum level of access for alcohol treatment, reducing the current national average of 1 in 18 to around 1 in 7
• the Department of Health should consider requiring local commissioners to reduce alcohol treatment waiting times to those for drug treatment, since alcohol treatment data must now be submitted to the National Drug Treatment Monitoring System (NDTMS)
• PCTs should make better cases for investment in alcohol treatment
• Strategic Health Authorities should ensure their local PCTs are meeting local alcohol treatment needs through key agendas and commissioning structures including Standards for Better Health

National Indicator set definitions released

The definitions for the National Indicators have been released by the Department for Communities and Local Government.  Definitions are provided for the 198 National Indicators, 185 of which came into force on the 1st of April 2008.  Local Strategic Partnerships should by now know which indicators they will set as key improvement targets (up to 35) as part of their Local Area Agreements (LAAs).

The new national indicators will be the only means of measuring national priorities that have been set  by the Government.  For alcohol, the key indicators are as follows:

• NI 39 Alcohol-harm related hospital admission rates
• NI 41 Perceptions of drunk or rowdy behaviour as a problem
• NI 115 Substance misuse by young people

A further indicator is associated with alcohol:

• NI 20 Assault with injury crime rate

However alcohol factors into many of the other indicators, with at least another 50 having a direct link with alcohol misuse.  Local partnerships are urged to consider the role of alcohol within their LAAs and key improvement targets. 

For further information on LAAs and the new frameworks for Local Strategic Partnerships see this overview and Alcohol Concern's LAA Factsheet here.

Comic Relief funding for young people and alcohol projects

Does your organisation work with young people experiencing problems with their own alcohol use?

If YES then Comic Relief wants to hear from you.

They want to fund work that either:

• provides services for  young people with  alcohol problems;
• reaches more ‘at risk’ groups such as women,  young offenders and those with mental health problems;
• provides training to equip staff with specialist alcohol skills.

They particularly want to receive joint applications from young people’s and alcohol agencies and you will need to show the added value of working together.

Comic Relief offers large grants to voluntary organisations of any size across the whole of the UK.  Applications for grants of between £15,000 and £40,000 per year and usually for between one and three years can be considered.

CLOSING DATES FOR APPLICATIONS ARE:
28th February 2008
15th August 2008

Please check out the grants section of the website at:  http://www.comicrelief.com to find out more about our young people and alcohol  programme.

Alternatively you can:
Call 020 7820 5555 and ask for the UK Grants team or email ukgrants@comicrelief.org.uk  and  ask for an application pack to be sent to you.

Minicom facility is on: 0207 820 5579

Tackling young people's drinking pt95

Mentor UK has announced its 2008 awards scheme - aimed at recognising projects in England, Scotland and Wales that can help prevent children and young people aged 14 or under from misusing alcohol – both now and in their future lives.   Nominations are sought for projects that promote healthy attitudes and behaviours and which help children and young people to avoid the dangers of alcohol misuse.

Awards will be made in the following three categories:

• for work in schools
• for work in the community
• for projects led by young people

Details here

The first month of an alcohol test-purchasing scheme to help curb underage drinking in Strathclyde has recorded a "failure" rate of just 9%. Of 235 test purchases at licensed premises last month as part of the Can't Tell - Don't Sell campaign, only 21 were recorded as failures. The crackdown by Strathclyde Police involves deploying 16-year-olds to licensed premises, where they try to buy alcohol.  The Herald

A scheme to mark alcohol with ultra-violet labels so it can be traced back to retailers is unlikely to be effective in combating under-age drinking, says independent retailers' association NFRN. The scheme is being piloted in Fife, and local MSP Claire Baker is calling for it to be extended to cover the whole of Scotland.

But NFRN president Colin Finch said:

“Underage drinking is becoming a significant problem in the communities that NFRN members serve. As independent and local retailers, members know that underage alcohol consumption can be damaging equally to teenagers and their neighbourhoods.

"As much as the NFRN supports any regulation or legislation that might help in resolving the issue we doubt that the UV marking scheme – as currently piloted in Fife – would be effective at all.

"We have, on numerous occasions, stressed the problem of proxy buying for example, where an adult purchases alcohol and or tobacco and sells or passes these products on to underage consumers.

“Finding a product in the hands of an underage consumer does not guarantee in any way that the same person actually made the purchase. Not to mention that with today's changing lifestyle alcohol may be found in most home refrigerators – without the teenagers actually needing to purchase it.  TalkingRetail.com

Pupils at Middleton Technology School and Queen Anne’s Academy were shown the dangers of underage drinking in a powerful drama by Altru Theatre Company. The ‘fingers burnt’ performance links in with a brand new ‘Responsible Retailer’ scheme which is being piloted in Middleton. The scheme involves local retailers agreeing to challenge young people who look under the age of 21 in a bid to reduce under-age sales and anti-social behaviour. Responsible Retailers will ask for a valid form of ID from anyone who looks under 21 when purchasing alcohol, cigarettes, knives or solvents.  Rochdale online

100k Northern Rock to expand service user-provided services

The North East Regional Alcohol Forum (NERAF) has been awarded £101,601 by Northern Rock Foundation to develop their peer-led support services regionally over the next three years. Based in Sunderland, NERAF is developing a network of support services for problematic drinkers, their families and carers to help people turn their lives around.

NERAF's Sunderland based services include eight support groups, a women’s and carers service, training and a 1-2-1 mentoring service. The award from Northern Rock Foundation will allow NERAF to expand its services in Durham, Gateshead, Newcastle and to other areas of the North East and Cumbria.

See previous post on NERAF's Community Alcohol Misuse Project.

JRF call for proposals:research on the transmission of drinking cultures

The JRF Alcohol Research Committee (ARC) has recently been set up and will be funding research and development in the alcohol field over a three-year period (2007-2009). The ARC’s overall aim is to collect and use evidence to contribute to halting or reversing negative drinking cultures and patterns in the UK in order to reduce problems or harm.

Proposals are sought for research on how drinking cultures are transmitted from one group to another. The key domains that JRF have identified are:

• the family
• teenage peer groups
• geographical locality
• the workplace
• the media

The ARC wish to fund primary research which explores how drinking culture is transmitted through these domains.   A maximum of £200,000 is available under this call for proposals. Closing date 6th November.  Details here.