Welsh Government says NHS here for all in drunk-tanks row
THE Welsh Government has said the “NHS is here for everybody” after the chief of NHS England criticised drunken revellers putting strain on the service.
NHS England chief executive Simon Stevens said he wanted to remind drunk people attending A&E for treatment that the “NHS doesn’t stand for National Hangover Service”.
He said: “When the health service is pulling out all the stops to care for sick and vulnerable patients who rightly and genuinely need our support, it’s frankly selfish when ambulance paramedics and A&E nurses have to be diverted to looking after revellers who have over-indulged and who just need somewhere to safely sleep it off.
“NHS doesn’t stand for National Hangover Service, but in the run-up to Christmas, having been out with ambulance crews on night shifts in London and the West Midlands, I’ve seen first hand how paramedics and A&Es are being called on to deal with drunk and often aggressive people.”
During the Christmas period this year, Alcohol Treatment Centres – known as “drunk tanks” – were open in Cardiff and Swansea city centres to stop drunk people travelling to A&E departments.
While the Welsh Government stopped short of criticising drunk revellers as Mr Stevens has done, it was keen to stress it would want people to drink responsibly to avoid putting a strain on the NHS in Wales.
A Welsh Government spokeswoman said: “The NHS in Wales is here for everybody when they need it. We would want people to drink responsibly to stay healthy and avoid putting undue pressure on our health service.
“We are taking preventative action to address this and our proposal to introduce a minimum price for alcohol in Wales is expected to have a clear impact on those who drink at hazardous and harmful levels – who tend to buy cheap, strong alcohol.
“It is also important to note we have been running alcohol treatment centres for some time in Wales.”
Professor Simon Moore, director of the Alcohol and Violence Research Group at Cardiff University, said Alcohol Treatment Centres in city centres provided much-needed support for A&E units across the country.
He said: “People who have drunk too much alcohol are not only a risk to themselves, but are also difficult to manage. They can become disorderly and disruptive and they attract a lot of resources such as the police, ambulance service and A&E staff.
“By having facilities in city-centre locations, they monitor these people to make sure they’re safe.
“If there’s something else going on they can be referred to A&E but generally it reduces the number of drunk people in A&E.
“In a waiting-room situation there are young families and elderly people who have to share this space with people who are drunk, which can be upsetting.”
Prof Moore said looking after drunk people can be intensive so any way to alleviate that stress on the NHS was a good thing.
He added: “When people have had that much alcohol you are more likely to urinate, defecate and vomit.
“Drunk people lose their gag reflex, which is a serious issue, so it’s about making sure people are safe and that’s what (drunk tanks) offer.”