Hospital Alcohol Services Workshop

Scottish Health Action on Alcohol Problems (SHAAP), the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) Scotland, and the Addictions Faculty of the Royal College of Psychiatrists (RCPsych) Scotland invite you to join us on Monday 30th September at the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh (RCPE) for a workshop on hospital alcohol services. Although the exact timings of the day are still to be confirmed, we anticipate that the event will run between 1.00 and 4.30pm.

The event will open with a welcome from Colin Poolman, Director RCN Scotland and Professor Susanna Galea-Singer, Chair of the Addictions Faculty at RCPsych Scotland, and will be chaired by Elinor Jayne, SHAAP Director.

Confirmed Speakers:

• Professor Thomas Phillips, Professor of Nursing in Addictions at University of Hull and Joint Chief Investigator on the Programme of Research for Alcohol Care Teams: Impact, Value and Effectiveness (ProACTIVE) project

• Dr Peter Rice Chair, Scottish Health Action on Alcohol Problems and former Consultant Psychiatrist, NHS Tayside

Why attend?

We anticipate participants to be frontline nurses, doctors and third sector professionals, from a range of services within hospitals and in the community, who work with people who have alcohol problems. This is an opportunity to not only start to build a network of professionals to share ideas, developments and challenges, but to immediately build connections with people who you may not come across otherwise and who will be able to support you in a variety of ways.

Who should attend?

• Clinicians working in hospital alcohol services
• Allied Health Professsionals working in alcohol services
• Those working in third sector alcohol services
• Those working in public health or policy with an interest in alcohol services.

What are the aims of the workshop?

• To assess the demand for a network or other means to support clinicians and third sector partners who work in alcohol services in Scotland.
• To identify what resources or activity may be useful in supporting clinicians and alcohol care teams/ hospital alcohol services more widely.

Why are we hosting this workshop?

SHAAP commissioned Figure 8 Consultancy to conduct a review of alcohol services in acute hospitals in Scotland, with particular focus on people with Alcohol-related Liver Disease (ArLD). The objective of the research was to gain a better understanding of service provision for patients admitted to hospitals in Scotland with ArLD, in relation to Alcohol Use Disorder. Findings from the research revealed the wide variation in the nature of alcohol services in acute hospitals in Scotland. Most hospitals have alcohol nurses to provide specialised input to in-patients identified with AUD. However, how such patients are identified is rarely systematic, the nature of the care usually includes brief interventions and a symptom-driven approach to alcohol withdrawal syndrome, and some offer specific interventions for treatment of dependency, but few provide on-going AUD treatment after discharge, even for those with ArLD. It also highlighted inconsistencies in funding and capacity along with a lack of clarity on leadership with wide variation in the ratio of nurses to hospital beds. To read the report, please see here.

This workshop will use the findings of the research and the experience of Alcohol Care Teams in England to generate discussion on ways forward for Scotland to provide better treatment and support for people with alcohol problems who are admitted to hospital.

Further details will follow, including the event agenda.

Host or Publisher Scottish Health Action on Alcohol Problems (SHAAP)