Royal College of Emergency Medicine release alcohol toolkit calling for further hospital provision

The Royal College of Emergency Medicine have released an alcohol toolkit which calls for further investment in Alcohol Care Teams and brief interventions to be carried by all medical staff in emergency settings.

Download Alcohol - A Toolkit for Improving Care [pdf]

The document provides a detailed resource covering key areas of alcohol activity that hospitals and Emergency Departments (ED) can undertake. It states the aims of the toolkit as:

1. Promotion of best practice in the area of alcohol management - methods of screening and complete management of the patient with alcohol related illness and injury in EDs.
2. Advancement of safe and effective care in this area - advising on approaches on how to care for this subset of patients and sharing best practice with the use of medications.
3. Education and training of Emergency Medicine doctors - by provision of guidelines and advocating training.

It also cites 'operational aims' as:

1. Identification and Brief Advice – to have a system of alcohol screening in EDs across the UK so that Brief Intervention is followed by input from Alcohol Nurse Specialists.
2. Departmental Alcohol Care Team – to develop a framework for establishing Alcohol Services within EDs incorporating Alcohol Nurse Specialists.
3. Alcohol Champions - to have a Consultant as an ‘Alcohol Champion’ for their ED/Trust, to lead on the management of alcohol related illness and injury in the ED/Trust.
4. Tackle re-attenders - to reduce alcohol attendances to the ED with strategies for frequent alcohol related re-attenders.

Last year  Public Health England (PHE) released a report Alcohol care in England's hospitals [pdf], reviewing the provision of alcohol services in England's hospitals. It identified that the majority of hospitals have at least some specialist alcohol provision, although delivery varies widely and key issues such as integration with community services is crucial. PHE have also released an A&E pathways document for young people.

A 2014 Alcohol Research UK report, A national study of acute care Alcohol Health Workers, found that services were 'frequently precarious, with limited management support, short-term funding and a lack of ownership from key agencies'.

Data on alcohol-related hospital admissions are used as a key indicator for local areas and part of the Public Health Outcomes Framework, whilst A&E data can be used to reduce violent crime. An evaluation of a national led programme to reduce alcohol-related hospital admissions and improve local level action was published in 2013.