A new alcohol advice tool for use by staff in the Emergency Departments in the South Eastern Health & Social Care Trust area has been launched by Health Minister Jim Wells.
The Trust is the first in Northern Ireland to provide this advice tool in the Downe Hospital, Lagan Valley and Ulster Emergency Departments which will be used by staff who see people day after day attend the department with alcohol related issues.
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At the launch were Jacqui Henning (Alcohol & You Co-Ordinator), Alex Bunting (FASA), Ed Sipler (Health Development Specialist, Alcohol & Drugs), Jerome Grace (Big Lottery Fund), Jim Wells (Health Minister), Hugh McCaughey (Chief Executive South Eastern HSC Trust), Dr Darren Monaghan (Consultant, Emergency Medicine), Emma Gribben (Deputy Sister, Emergency Dept.), John Hunsdale (ASCERT) & Martina Rydout (Addiction NI)[/caption]
With around 140,000 people attending the Ulster, Lagan Valley & Downe Emergency Departments every year and approximately 80% of these attendances particularly at the weekend being in some way alcohol related, there was a need to address this growing issue.
The advice tool developed by Emergency Department staff and the Alcohol & You Partnership, (South Eastern Trust, ASCERT, FASA, and Addiction NI), embraces NICE guidelines for effective behaviour change by including specific techniques embedded in the tool’s content. The most important task is drawing the person’s attention to the relationship between their presentation to the Emergency Department and their alcohol consumption. The advice tool directs people to a menu of options for support, the easiest being the ‘Alcohol and You’ website
www.alcoholandyouni.com which has a self-help section.
There is a strong evidence base for the role of self-help as an effective component of intervention that can reach a large number of people. If anyone wants further face-to-face intervention, there is easy access to one-to-one support via the clinics or counselling within Alcohol and You which is funded by the Big Lottery’s Impact of Alcohol program.
Using brief advice in the Emergency Department that sees large numbers of people who are not seeking help with their drinking, but none-the-less are affected by alcohol, creates a unique and invaluable opportunity to reduce alcohol-related harm.
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Dr Darren Monaghan (Consultant, Emergency Medicine), Ed Sipler (Health Development Specialist, Alcohol & Drugs), Jim Wells (Health Minister), Seamus McGoran (Director of Hospital Services), Jill Fleck (Sister, Emergency Dept Down/Lagan Valley), Emma Gribben (Deputy Sister, Emergency Dept.)[/caption]
Welcoming the launch of the Toolkit, the NI Health Minister Jim Wells MLA said: “Alcohol misuse is one of the biggest public health challenges we face. It costs Northern Ireland up to £900 million every year, with almost £250 million of these costs borne by the Health and Social Care Sector.
“Alcohol misuse increases the risk of cancer, cardiovascular disease and liver disease, and can also lead to poor mental health and self-harm. Our hospitals and emergency departments are significantly impacted by alcohol misuse; each year there are over 12,000 alcohol-related hospital admissions and eight out of ten attendances at our emergency departments during peak times are due to alcohol-related injuries or problems.
“This toolkit has the potential to raise awareness among both professionals and the public of the impact of alcohol misuse. It will help to encourage those who misuse alcohol to drink less; evidence shows this approach can help reduce alcohol admissions, re-admissions and alcohol related harm. Any measure that helps to reduce the pressure on our emergency departments is to be welcomed and I commend the South Eastern Health and Social Care Trust, the Big Lottery Fund, and community and voluntary sector partners – ASCERT, FASA, and Addiction NI – for taking this innovative approach.”
Ed Sipler, Health Development Specialist for Alcohol & Drugs in the South Eastern Health & Social Care Trust added: “We all know our Emergency Departments are under enormous pressure. We believe this advice tool will not be a quick fix, but it will contribute to helping people drink less. In the long term this will reduce alcohol-related problems and will help ease some of the pressures currently experienced in our Emergency Departments”.
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