Lewisham PCT established a pilot alcohol ‘local enhanced service’ (LES) at the end of 2005. The pilot runs for a year, and 31 out of 52 practices in the PCT are involved.
The LES operates within the new contractual arrangements for GPs that came into play in April 2005. It focuses on early identification of problematic drinking in a general practice setting: new patients and patients attending with specific alcohol-related conditions are asked about the drinking, and given advice, an intervention or a referral to a specialist service as appropriate. An estimated 6,500 presentations to GPs in the borough per year are alcohol-related.
Costs
An annual £1032 retainer fee per practice will be paid for:
- One named GP and one other member of practice participating in relevant training. (Attendance at a minimum of one session per participant ie. Two sessions per practice per annum will be required, with the training provided by the PCT)
- Completion of a brief questionnaire at the beginning and end of the Pilot project
- Practices will need to demonstrate screening activity opportunistically (e.g. for patients with GI complaints, trauma or assault) as well as structured screening of patients who fall into following categories: new patients, patients at antenatal/postnatal checks and patients with chronic diseases, such as Diabetes, CHD, Depression, Hypertension and Epilepsy. It is expected that this will be through the use of READ coded templates in order that data may be recovered at a later date for monitoring purposes
- Active engagement with patients giving information, sign posting and referring on as appropriate
- At the end of the year practitioners are expected to provide lists of patients who were offered screening, BI and onward referral
Despite the evidence base and policy context for alcohol screening and brief interventions in primary care, such services are still relatively rare in England, and the Lewisham pilot is believed to be one of less than a handful in London.
More info
Contact Nesrin Yurtoglu on 020 7206 3249 or [email protected]
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