STATE TO SNOOP ON HOW MUCH YOU DRINK
SNP’s radical plan to give public sector staff power to quiz families over drinking habits
AN army of public sector workers is to be given the power to quiz Scots families on their drinking habits. Council employees – including office staff and cleaners – will be among those trained to carry out booze checks.
They will also be taught how to offer people advice on how to cut down the amount of alcohol they drink. The radical NHS plan could involve care workers quizzing elderly clients during home visits, or civil servants raising the issue of alcohol during housing interviews.
The move, unveiled by health watchdog NHS Health Scotland, has been launched to dramatically increase the number of Scots screened for problem drinking. But last night critics claimed it amounted to ‘busybody prying’ and said workers should be left to get on with their jobs.
Ken Frost, author of the political blog Nanny Knows Best said: ‘It’s absurd. It’s not the state’s business what we drink.’
Doctors and nurses already give out alcohol advice, known as Alcohol Brief Interventions, to
patients, and more than half a million have been carried out in the health service over the past eight years.
Now plans have been unveiled for other professionals and volunteers to be trained amid soaring drinking levels.
In a new report, NHS Health Scotland states that the interventions successfully get people to cut down on their drinking and should expand to ‘wider settings’.
According to the watchdog’s briefing paper, those trained to do checks should include ‘care workers, social workers, housing officers, occupational therapists, activities co-ordinators, employment support officers and ancillary staff’.
The paper states these employees are in a ‘good position to pick up problems early’.
Workers will ask those they come into contact with if they drink. If the answer is yes, they will ask how much they drink. The screening also asks if they have suffered problems such as memory blackouts.
Those found to be drinking above the recommended limits will be offered advice on how to cut down or how to seek help.
The paper states: ‘Brief interventions are not overly complex and can be delivered by professionals in a range of health and social care settings once the adequate training requirements have been met.
‘Most people who are drinking harmfully or hazardously are unlikely to come into contact with specialist services, but are likely to come into contact with health staff and staff in wider settings who are in a good position to pick up problems early before they become a more serious issue for individuals.
‘As alcohol has such wide-ranging effects on so many different aspects of life, tackling alcohol-related harm is everybody’s business. The evidence on brief interventions demonstrates it is not necessary for them to be delivered only by specialists.’
NHS Health Scotland has not yet published details of how the scheme would work in practice. When the interventions are carried out in the NHS, they are performed in clinics as part of a routine appointment or when a patient has arrived at A&E with a problem that may have been caused by their drinking.
However, it could involve care workers quizzing their elderly clients during home visits, employment or housing officers screening people during interviews, or ancillary staff such as cleaners or porters trained to ‘pick up’ a potential problem with people they meet through their job.
But Josie Appleton, director of civil liberties group the Manifesto Club, said: ‘It is already too much that people are asked their alcohol consumption several times a day while in hospital for a routine procedure. It’s very worrying that this busybody prying will extend to interactions with council officials.
‘Housing officials and cleaners have no business to be quizzing you on your drinking, they should concentrate on delivering housing. If someone has a drinking problem, this is a matter for doctors.’
The plan comes as a court last week ruled that minimum pricing on alcohol can be introduced in Scotland.
Recently revised safe limits guidelines state that men and women should drink no more than 14 units a week – the equivalent of around six glasses of wine. However, more than a third of men and 17 per cent of women drink more than this.
Alcohol campaigners have welcomed the move.
Alison Douglas, chief executive of Alcohol Focus Scotland, said: ‘Alcohol Brief Interventions (ABI) have been shown to be effective in reducing consumption among people drinking above the guidelines.
‘As well as health professionals, those working in social care, housing and education are in a good position to pick up on alcohol issues at an early stage.
‘However, asking people to take personal responsibility for their drinking is only one part of the solution. All the things that encourage us to drink more – cheap prices, easily availability and constant promotions – must be tackled in order to reduce consumption and harm.’
No one from NHS Health Scotland was last night available for comment.
But Public Health Minister Aileen Campbell said: ‘Through health boards and partners, we have delivered over 667,000 interventions since April 2008 to help people to cut down on their drinking, potentially reducing the requirement for more costly alcohol-related treatment later on.
‘We have invested in training and funded a national training programme to support health boards develop local workforce capacity to deliver ABIs.
‘Training is now led by regional NHS boards under Scottish Government guidance and supported by NHS Health Scotland training materials.’
Comment – Page 14
‘No business to quiz people on drinking’