SCRAP 24-HOUR DRINKING LAWS SAY 999 STAFF
THE 24-HOUR drinking laws imposed by Labour ten years ago have ‘changed policing forever’ and should be scrapped, according to officers.
A survey of emergency workers, carried out by the Institute of Alcohol Studies, claimed that binge drinkers – spurred on by round-the-clock licensing – have created a ‘culture of fear’ among frontline staff.
The poll revealed that more than three-quarters of police officers as well as 52 per cent of paramedics and 42 per cent of A&E doctors have been injured helping intoxicated revellers.
The Mail has repeatedly warned of the problems posed by the new licensing laws as part of our ‘Say No to 24-hour Drinking’ campaign, pointing out that the rules have fuelled violent attacks and late-night hospital admissions.
The policy was introduced by Tony Blair to create a European cafe culture and end the problems caused by the rush at the 11pm pub closing time. But one police officer told researchers: ‘We do not have the European drinking culture that was so desired with the change in opening hours. This is why I believe they should go back to the old system.’
Another added: ‘A return to the old licensing hours would drastically improve drink-related crime trends.’ A third police officer said: ‘We need to go back to the old licensing hours. We haven’t enough staff and can be still locking drunk people up to 9am, sometimes even later. The majority of time is spent dealing with fallout from the nighttime economy – no longer are we able to patrol residential areas to catch burglars.’
Based on the responses from the poll – which saw more than 4,834 doctors, paramedics, police and firemen surveyed – the researchers estimated that drunks are taking up a third of ambulance workers’ time and around a quarter of the shifts of staff in casualty wards.
A&E doctors told researchers that drunks typically take six hours to treat, and can roam the wards, damaging equipment and upsetting patients and relatives.
Many doctors said they thought intoxicated patients should be fined for attending casualty. The average cost of treating a drunk in A&E is around £120, rising to £320 if they need to be taken to hospital in an ambulance.
One paramedic said: ‘It is infuriating when a drunk who has col- lapsed in the city centre at night take priority and old folk are left lying on the floor at home with a broken hip for hours on end.’
The report’s authors have now urged the Government to invest in ‘drunk tanks’ – mobile units where revellers can sober up.
The report concludes: ‘ Perhaps the most shocking finding of our survey was how widespread drunken physical, sexual and verbal abuse of emergency staff is.
‘This has created a culture of fear in the emergency services, particularly for those out on the streets.’
Yesterday Katherine Brown, director of the Institute of Alcohol Studies, said: ‘The level of alcohol-fuelled abuse experienced by frontline services is totally unacceptable.
‘People who protect the public, often risking their safety to do so, should not have to face drunken assaults and harassment as part of their daily routine.’
She went on to say: ‘The Government needs to take a tougher stance on the availability of cheap alcohol and do more to protect our emergency services.’
And Dr Cliff Mann, president of the Royal College of Emergency Medicine, added: ‘ The effects of alcohol intoxication can spill over into our hospitals.
‘ We are extremely concerned about the impact that this has on the ambulance service and on our already hard-pressed emergency departments.’