Alcohol Policy UK

Alcohol Policy UK 2016 evaluation survey

Alcohol Policy UK evaluation: short user survey

Please take a few minutes to complete our short evaluation survey here.

The survey is intended for users of Alcohol Policy UK to support evaluation of the site and its content. 

The survey should not take longer than a few minutes to complete and closes on Friday 10th December 2016 - www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/APUK2016eval

Alcohol Academy evaluation: additional short survey

The survey also contains a short optional section to gather feedback on the Alcohol Academy, which runs the Alcohol Policy UK blog with support from Alcohol Research UK.

The Alcohol Academy has also carried out other activity with the aim of supporting alcohol harm reduction. The survey seeks views of those familiar with the Academy and its functions to help assess its impact to date.

Both survey sections (single link) close on Friday 10th December 2016. See here for the survey or get in touch here with any questions or comments.

Hospitals and mental health services to see IBA 'CQUIN' contracts

Certain secondary healthcare providers will be incentivised to carry out alcohol 'Identification and Brief Advice' (IBA), also known as brief intervention, as part of the NHS Commissioning for Quality and Innovation (CQUINs) payments framework from 2017-2019.

IBA has been a central component of alcohol prevention strategies in the UK and in other countries, but whilst there may be good evidence from research trials, the extent of effective routine implementation remains questionable. By introducing smoking intervention and IBA targets as part of the CQUIN, it is hoped that further progress will be made in delivering the NHS Five Year Forward View for achieving a healthier population.

Events & dates 2017: Alcohol Research UK national conference, New Directions, KBS Sheffield

Alcohol Research UK 2017 conference and Early Career Symposium 

Alcohol Research UK's 2017 conference, ‘Working together: people, practice and policy in alcohol research’, takes place on Wednesday, 5th April 2017 in London. The event will explore co-production and collaboration in alcohol research and practice and consider how sharing experience can help to bridge the gaps between research and practice.

Further details here or book your place through the Eventbrite page - early bird rate of £120 currently available.

'Reducing alcohol consumption: guidelines, local government and digital technologies' event presentations

Presentations from a recent NIHR School for Public Health Research and UCL Centre for Behaviour Change event on the 12th October 2016, 'Reducing alcohol consumption: guidelines, local government and digital technologies', are available to download.

Presentations included:

• What is the Alcohol Toolkit Study and future research opportunities - Dr Emma Beard [PDF]

• Comparison of brief interventions on smoking and alcohol consumption - DrJamieBrown [PDF]

Further minimum pricing delay as SWA appeal again

The Scotch Whisky Association (SWA) have confirmed they will appeal the recent decision by the Scottish Courts that minimum unit pricing (MUP) was legal and proportionate. The appeal was announced on the final day of the deadline, ignoring calls from health groups and the Scottish Government for the industry to accept the decision.

The latest announcement brings renewed uncertainty over when MUP will be implemented, but arguably less so as to whether it eventually will be. A common interpretation amongst MUP supporters is all the opposing arguments have been addressed and as such the further appeal simply amounts to 'delaying tactics'. The Scottish Government first passed legislation to implement MUP in 2012 but have been forced through various legal hurdles primarily as a result of opposition claims that it contravened EU law. However the European Court of Justice (ECJ) ruled it was for the Scottish Inner House of the Court of Session to decide on MUP who decided it was proportionate and justifiable on health grounds.

Alcohol Concern call for attention on alcohol and youth offending

Alcohol Concern have released a new report calling for further action to tackle the link between youth offending and alcohol use. 

The report, Alcohol in the system [pdf], was funded by Trust for London following a 12 month project exploring the link between alcohol consumption and youth offending.

The report states that up to 41% of young offenders had drunk alcohol at the time of their offence, but many opportunities to identify and support young people around alcohol misuse are being missed. As such it recommends that alcohol misuse must be 'seen and treated as a public health issue, rather than purely a criminal justice issue'.

Statistics for alcohol treatment in England 2015-16: why the drop?

Public Health England (PHE) have released alcohol treatment figures in England for 2015-2016 within a combined report of drug and alcohol treatment data.

The reports states 85,035 individuals started alcohol treatment in 2015-16, of these 59,873 cited alcohol as their only problematic substance. The overall number of individuals in treatment for alcohol fell by 4% compared to 2014-15, with the numbers for alcohol only decreasing by 5%.

The PHE report does not comment on the recent drop in figures, but states they have 'remained relatively stable' since the data was first submitted in 2009.

APMS 2014: risky drinking down but concern over dependence and mental health

New data on the level of alcohol misuse in England was recently released as part of the Adult Psychiatric Morbidity Survey (APMS) 2014. The headline figures show that whilst hazardous drinking has declined since 2000, levels of harmful and dependent drinking have remained stable.

See the full chapter list for the Adult Psychiatric Morbidity Survey: Survey of Mental Health and Wellbeing, England, 2014 and the specific alcohol chapter here [pdf] and alcohol tables [xls].

Findings bulletins: primary care interventions, the influence of the practitioner & fundamentals of alcohol treatment Matrix

Recent bulletins from the  drug and alcohol bank:

Primary care counselling of risky drinkers reduces drinking

Amalgamated findings from risky drinkers identified in primary care settings indicate that supplementing screening/assessment with (especially multi-session) brief counselling generates greater reductions in drinking and on some measures also improves health. It is unclear whether the generally small impacts would be sustained in routine practice.

Treatment staff matter, but why and how much?

News & updates October 2016: women drinking 'as much' as men, calories, cutting down tips, coffee shops & more

Selected media stories since the September roundup:

Health & research in the news

'Women have caught up with men' in alcohol consumption levels, headlines reported across the media. According to international research the gap between men and women is closing rapidly when it comes to use and alcohol-related harms, though in the UK men still drink more. See NHS behind the headlines analysis or BBC, The Sun and Guardian reports.