and we'll always know where to find Iggy!

'Hangover hospitals' could go nationwide



Lorna Martin

Sunday November 27, 2005

The Observer





Makershift field clinics should be set up in cities across Britain to deal with minor alcohol-related injuries, according to those behind the UK's first all-night 'hangover hospital', which opened in Newcastle this weekend.

The health service initiative, which is backed by the police, was established to coincide with the more liberal licensing regime and to help reduce the expected increase in pressure on accident and emergency departments.



Around 80 per cent of emergency admissions on Friday and Saturday nights at hospitals across the country are currently alcohol-related, with the problem costing the NHS �1.7 billion a year.



The new clinic in Newcastle is situated in the historic Guildhall building on the Quayside - a famous night-spot for partygoers. It will be open on Friday and Saturday nights from 8pm to 8am, offering trolleys, stretchers, toilets, water and medical treatment to drunken patients for minor injuries.



The centre is staffed by volunteers from St John's Ambulance and the Red Cross, as well as the ambulance service and an A&E doctor. On its first night, 11 patients, including five who had drunk themselves unconscious, received treatment.



Despite one drunken female patient starting a fight with paramedics, Simon Swallow, emergency planning officer for the North-East Ambulance Service, said it had been a huge success.



'Normally, all of these patients would have been taken to Newcastle General A&E, which puts pressure on ambulances and hospital staff and causes long waiting times. The five unconscious patients each needed treatment for more than two hours. They would have taken up five beds overnight at the hospital.'



The hospital's A&E department did not have to deal with any alcohol-related injuries on Friday, which was the first weekend night of the new licensing regime.



The centres could be extended across the country. The Scottish Executive is already considering plans for a chain of 'sobering up stations' or 'drunk tanks', which are widely used in North America and Australia.



Paul Liversidge, director of A&E for the North East Ambulance Service, said the clinics were not simply for drunks looking for a bed for the night.



'They are for people who are vulnerable because they are intoxicated or injured,' he said. 'It will take the strain off our core fleet of ambulances, which would normally find themselves responding to low-grade alcohol-related injuries and drunkenness, and it will give them time to respond much more effectively to the really life-threatening incidents that arise during a weekend.'



He said a unique aspect of the project was that every patient would be provided with information and a follow-up call about the dangers of excessive drinking.



Although widely welcomed by police and medical experts, one doctor said such field hospitals should be funded by the drinks industry.



'At the moment this is being funded by the primary care trust from a special initiative fund, but there is no long-term funding for it,' said Dr Chris Record, a liver specialist at Newcastle's Royal Victoria Infirmary. 'This kind of facility is the kind of thing the licensing trade should be paying for through a supplement in the licensing fee.'



Meanwhile, Britain's first weekend of 24-hour drinking appeared to have passed without the wave of debauchery and alcohol-fuelled violence predicted by some.



Police had warned that they were facing an 'unknown quantity' with thousands of bars, pubs and clubs in England and Wales extending their normal hours, following the biggest shake-up in licensing regulations for 50 years. Some forces said they had a quieter Friday night than usual, but many put this down to the freezing temperatures. Police say the full implications will not be clear for at least six months.



About 1,000 premises now have 24-hour licenses, with thousands more allowed to extend opening times by one or two hours.

haha didn't know about this X-D Unfortunatly I wont be able to sample the delights of the hangover hospital as I have to deal with the hell that is work after a night of lapping at the devils piss.

you got any of those 24 hour licensed places near you? the only place in Amerika that let's you buy booze around the clock is Las Vegas.

toomuch'stash Escribi�:

you got any of those 24 hour licensed places near you? the only place in Amerika that let's you buy booze around the clock is Las Vegas.

Not quite yet. I don't imagine the majority of places will go for the 24hr licence thing. It's been slow to take off. Most places will just extend there opening times by a few hours.