Alcohol service helping at A&E

Anne Livesey, at the Rochdale Infirmary Accident and Emergency department

A new service that helps people manage their alcohol intake is proving to make a big difference.

NHS Heywood, Middleton and Rochdale appointed an Alcohol Practitioner, Anne Livesey, to work within Rochdale Infirmary Accident and Emergency (A&E) last September.

Ms Livesey, with the support of the A&E staff, is working to help people who are at risk of harm because of their drinking – people who may not even realise they are at risk.

Ms Livesey works with patients who attend A&E by giving them advice on how much alcohol is safe to drink and identifying people who are at risk.

She helps some people with more severe alcohol problems to get help from more specialist alcohol services.

The hospital staff have also been trained on how to quickly identify people who are at increased risk of alcohol-related harm and how to best to advise them.

Jamie McCann, 36, from Falinge, was able to get the help he needed to tackle his harmful drinking and drug addiction thanks to the service at A&E.

He said:“I’ve been to lots of services but haven’t found one that has helped. I saw Anne when I was at A&E and she put me in touch with a service called 'Reach' to help with my drug problem, which I had never heard of before.

"I now get one to one help and see the same counsellor every time which helps to build up trust. It’s brilliant. I’ve started to talk about my problems and get the help that I need to get back on track.”

During the first seven weeks, 2000 people were assessed by the new service, and one in four of those were found to be at increased risk of harm because of their drinking.

Most people didn’t even realise their drinking was putting their health at risk, but 24 were found to be at high risk, needing support from specialist alcohol services.

11 people were helped into other health or social care services for support in with other problems that they had.

The service has been so successful other PCTs are now adopting the same type of approach.

Ms Livesey said: “Many people drink alcohol at safe levels without any real problems but there are a large number of drinkers who regularly drink more than the Government’s recommended amount.

"Many of those people don’t even realise they are at risk of causing harm, either to themselves or others, because of their drinking. By identifying these people early on and helping them to manage their alcohol intake, we can reduce their risk of harm and stop them from ending up in hospital again.”

The Rochdale borough is the 9th worst in the UK for the number of people who end up in A&E because of alcohol.

The Government recommends that men should not regularly drink more than 3-4 units per day and women should not regularly exceed 2-3 units per day. For more information about safe drinking, visit www.doyoufeelgood.org