Alcohol Policy UK

London: The highs and lows 2 - audio from the launch

 London: The highs and the lows 2 report from the Greater London Alcohol and Drug Alliance (GLADA),  was launched by the Mayor of London at City Hall on Monday 22nd January.

• This second edition of London: The highs and the lows presents information on alcohol as well as drug use in London (the first edition was drugs only).
• The report contains detailed information on the way that drug and alcohol use in London differs from the UK as a whole, and also on the variations across London.
• It reveals the complexity of the challenges London faces and re-emphasises the necessity for partnership working to reduce the harm caused by drug and alcohol use.
• Working with GLADA, the Mayor is committed to publishing one 'Highs and Lows' report in each Mayoral term and to continuing to support their wider programme of work.

Download the report from here.

Speakers at the launch featured in the audio file below (timings in brackets) were:

• Mayor of London, Ken Livingstone (0.00)
• Outgoing independent Chair of GLADA, John Grieve (9.08)
• Interim Chief Executive for NHS London, Ruth Carnall (13.48; talking about the need to get the balance right for alcohol at 16.55)
• John Grieve again, introduced by Ken Livingstone (22.48)

download the mp3 file (right click the icon), listen now, or subscribe to the Alcohol  Policy UK Podcast by pasting this code into your podcatcher:

http://feeds.feedburner.com/AlcoholPolicyUk

Alcohol Policy UK podcast: alcohol-related rape, sensible limits, Recovery Cafe (APUK06)

00.00 Introduction, music by Kaimoku

00.52 Drinkaware Trust appoints new chair.

01.33 Get in touch: email us or send an audio comment using waxmail or MP3 to [email protected] leave comment on the blog,leave a voicemail on mobotalk (see right hand panel)

01.52 Has the government changed the sensible limits?  Tony Goodall is concerned. (Previous post)

05.41 Moira Plant and Binge Britain, the Interim Analytical Report , possible changes to the consent laws

07.36 Mike Webb and the Hampshire campaign on alcohol-related rape, Did Sophie Consent, Southampton Daily Echo Keep Kids Sober campaign

13.58 Richard Carus talks about Recovery Cafe UK.  See also his Recovery Cafe Australia,   Recovery Cafe South Africa and Family Support Network

28.06 A Girl Don't Have to Drink to Have Fun by the Stumbleweeds

download the mp3 file (right click), listen now, or subscribe to the podcast by pasting this code into your podcatcher:

http://feeds.feedburner.com/AlcoholPolicyUk.

 

Alcohol Policy UK podcast: sbi trailblazers, effectiveness review, new funding, and interventions for older people (APUK05)

00.00 Intro, music by Kaimoku

00.47 Screening and brief intervention trailblazers were launched on 20th Oct at St Georges.  The £3.2M research project will run for two years in three regions: London, South East and North East.  There are three research setting: primary care, A&E and criminal justice.  Contact the team at St Georges if you want to propose a research site, via the SIPS website.

02.29 The Review of the Effectiveness of Treatment for Alcohol Problems has been published by the  NTA (see previous post).

03.14 £15M for alcohol treatment not really news but we need to try and make sure the money is used for alcohol work and not plugging holes in budgets.  See previous post

05.02 Rain in my heart documentary by Paul Watson

05.57 Gavin Bryce, from Brighton & Hove PCT about older people's drinking.  See also Alcohol and Ageing: Is alcohol a major threat to healthy ageing for the baby boomers

13.35 Get in touch:

• email us or send an audio comment using waxmail or MP3 to [email protected]
• Leave comment on the blog
• Leave a voicemail on mobotalk (see right hand panel)

14.15 PodcastconUK was great.  Got to see/meet: Paul Nichols (podcastpaul), Alex Bellinger (smallbizpod), Neville "Interesting" Hobson (For Immediate Release), Adam Curry (Daily Source Code), CC Chapman (Managing the Gray and Accident Hash), as well as hearing some great live music (especially The Shakes).

15.35 A song for the cognitive-behavioural brigade, Bad Bad Whiskey, from "Blues Burnin' In My Soul" by Johnny Laws, Electro-Fi 

Buy at eMusic

download the mp3 file (right click), listen now, or subscribe to the podcast feed.

 

Alcohol Policy UK podcast: MOCAM, and the Michael Stone Inquiry (apuk04)

Here is the first podcast in a new series of twice-monthly shows focussing on alcohol harm reduction news, interesting practice and policy developments.  Mike Ward joins Libby Ranzetta for a discussion about Models of Care for Alcohol Misusers (MOCAM) and the implications for substance misuse treatment from the Michael Stone Inquiry.

Show notes

• 00.00 Intro: music by Kaimoko; please get in touch (using comments at the end of this post or voicemail using the Mobatalk panel on the right of this page or an audio comment using WaxMail, or email.

• 01.17 In the news: Launch of the screening and brief interventions 'trailblazers'; foetal alcohol syndrome; links to AA membership and reduced rates of violent crime.

• 08.29 MOCAM: background to its development; consultation process; Alcohol Concern's Commission in the Future of Alcohol Services and 'tier zero'; lack of focus on carers; categorisation of drinkers; the four tiers of interventions; ANARP; standards and frameworks; social services commissioning role; DANOS ; what difference will MOCAM make?

• 19.11 Michael Stone Inquiry (part 1, part 2): mental health bill that got axed; Christopher Clunis Inquiry; Anthony Hardy Inquiry - the 'Camden Ripper'' ; Stone's drug treatment; Stone's alcohol use; familiar themes in the inquiry conclusions; are people with personality disorder treatable?; alcohol treatment within drug services

download the mp3 file (right click), listen now, or subscribe to the podcast feed.

Alcohol Policy UK podcast: Norwich SOS Bus (apuk03)

Norwich's SOS Bus project is now a well-established part of the city's night time economy, providing a safe haven for vulnerable people at night and getting them home if necessary.  The project is run by Open Youth Trust in partnership with Norwich PCT, the police, the council and others.  It is manned by staff and volunteers from the youth service, St Johns Ambulance and other local organisations.

In the podcast, Sylvia Morely of Norwich PCT discusses the health benefits of the SOS Bus, and project manager Colin Lang explains how and why the project was started.

Further information

• SOS Bus project website
• Previous posts on city centre alcohol field stations
• Open Youth Trust website
• Norwich PCT website

Audio comments: WaxMail

 

download the mp3 file (right click to save), or play now).  To subscribe to the podcast, use the XML button on the right hand panel.

Alcohol Policy UK podcast: researching the impact of the Licensing Act podcast (apuk02)

The Licensing Act 2003 siginificantly reformed liquor licensing in England and Wales.  It  transferred responsibility for licensing from licensing magistrates to local authorities and removed restrictions on hours of sale, allowing in theory 24 hour opening. 

What difference will the Act make to the nature and level of harm associated with drinking, and how will any changes by measured?  Local authorities need to know, so they can monitor the effectiveness of their licensing policies.  How will they do it?

The second Alcohol Policy UK podcast features:

• research into alcohol-related presentions to accident and emergency wards before and after the Act - we have an interview with research leader Bob Patton, Health Service Research Coordinator at the National Addiction Centre
• research from Hackney into a core dataset for monitoring the impact of the  council's licensing policy and alcohol-related harm in general

Further information

Information about the Licensing Act 2003, here

British Association for Emergency Medicine (BAEM)

Action on Addiction

More information about Bob's reseach here

Alcohol Concern/AERC Licensing Toolkit here

Information about Hackney scrutiny research here

Audio comments: WaxMail

 

download the mp3 file (right click to save), listen now, or subscribe to the podcast feed.

Alcohol Policy UK podcast: alcohol screening and brief interventions (apuk01)

The first Alcohol Policy UK podcast explores the current policy context for alcohol screening and brief interventions.  Don Shenker, Director of Policy and Services at Alcohol Concern and Bob Patton, Health Service Research Coordinator at the National Addiction Centre discuss the issues.

Issues covered:

• what is screening and brief intervention and who is it for
• importance of early intervention
• settings for screening
• screening tools
• tools for brief intervention
• screening as an effective intervention in its own right
• A&E as a setting for prevention
• recent policy development
• funding for screening and brief interventions

Further information:

• Alcohol Harm Reduction Strategy for England
• Choosing Health
• Implementation plan for the alcohol part of Choosing Health Alcohol Misuse Interventions: Guidance on developing a local programme of improvement
• Paddington Alcohol Test "PAT"
• Screening tools
• Brief interventions

 

download the mp3 file (right click to save), listen now, or subcribe to the podcast feed.