Extra cash poured into tackling booze problem

Apr 10 2008

MORE money than ever before will this financial year be spent on the problem of alcohol misuse in South Lanarkshire.

Funding to tackle the county’s bevvy culture has been increased almost 200 per cent to £2,455,6988.

That compares with spending of little more than £855,000 last financial year.

The extra cash will be used to tackle a 66 per cent increase over 10 years in the county’s alcohol-related death toll.

Lanarkshire Alcohol and Drug Action Team chairman Colin Sloey welcomed the extra cash, and said it would give them the opportunity to speed up the programme of service improvements for those with drink problems.

The money will be targeted at alcohol screening, prevention and treatment services.

A spokesman for NHS Lanarkshire said they were already providing training for GPs, practice nurses and other community health on problems of alcohol misuse.

“This extra money will help us to offer treatment at an earlier stage and therefore reduce the number of people who develop more severe alcohol problems,” he added.

“We are also looking to enhance services for younger people, focusing on education, prevention and treatment.

“There is evidence that more and more older adults are developing alcohol problems, and this is an area that we want to address by offering enhanced support, treatment and care.”

The £2.455m allocation is Lanarkshire’s share of a £25m package of spending on alcohol misuse announced by Scottish Government Public Health Minister Shona Robison.

She said the budget for across Scotland for alcohol treatment services will more than double.

NHS Lanarkshire’s director of public health, Dr Dorothy Moir, has described the impact of drink on people in the county as “among the worst in Britain.”

In 2006, no fewer than 215 Lanarkshire people died from alcohol-linked disease compared to 130 10 years earlier.

These figures, however, tell only half the story.

In her annual report, published in November, Dr Moir notes that in Lanarkshire in 2005-06, there were 3827 alcohol-related hospital discharges.

Alcohol misuse in the county led to 15,050 consultations with GPs and practice nurses.

The number of 13-year-olds and 15-year-olds who had tried alcohol fell in the five years to 2006, according to a Lanarkshire survey.

However, for those 13-year-olds who had consumed alcohol in the week before the study, average consumption rose from 11 units to 17 units over the same period.

The average alcohol intake of the older children went from 13 in 2002 to 20 last year.

Dr Moir concluded: “Alcohol-related problems in Lanarkshire, already serious, have continued to worsen.

“Education and preventive action, including fiscal measures as well as improvements in health care and joint working with other agencies who have a significant role, are all required to address this growing problem.”