The Royal College of Physicians and Royal College of Nursing Survey on Alcohol Treatment Services published last week asked gastroenterologists, hepatologists, acute physicians and nurses for their expert opinion on Government policy initiatives and national strategies to tackle alcohol related harm, the provision of service for people with alcohol related health problems and the scale of alcohol related health harms in their particular clinical environment.
Key findings (it is not clear how many people responded):
- 73% felt action on low priced alcohol was needed to tackle alcohol related problems
- 71% believed that greater investment in treatment services was needed
- 88% felt that the national strategies for reducing harm were not effective
The editorial in this week's Lancet supports minimum pricing, as proposed by Chief Medical Officer Liam Donaldson (pictured), suggesting that opposition is political and not based on understanding of the evidence:
Previous Lancet articles on alcohol here.
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