Agenda and minutes

No declarations of interest were made.

Providers of alcohol treatment and support services have been invited to the meeting to provide an overview of their services and to answer questions from the Scrutiny Committee.

A copy of the presentation slides from the last meeting are included as an aide memoir.

The Chair invited representatives of organisations providing alcohol treatment and prevention services to provide an overview of their services and identify key issues for the Scrutiny Committee to consider as part of the Review of Alcohol Services.

Matthew Phoenix – Pennine Care NHS Foundation Trust (Cirtek House)

·         Services provided for adults over 26 years.

·         Focus of services provided at Cirtek House was on those who were alcohol dependent (drinking daily).

·         Treatments including detoxification (nurse led), or control and reduction of consumption.

·         Work with Stepping Hill Hospital to address repeat/frequent attenders caused by alcohol and diversion into community-based support.

·         Increased focus on aftercare provision to maintain abstinence, run principally by ex-service users. This included drop-in groups, regular phone contact to monitor and support service users, and signposting to other support. There was also an emphasis on reintegration.

Billy Hooley - Addiction Dependency Solutions (ADS)

·         ADS was a charity, working from Cirtek House, and providing support to a range of substance misusers. Recently began work with alcohol misuse.

·         Focus of activity was at the lower thresholds of misuse, usually before dependency, but where behaviour was harmful. Provided support to improve their social circumstances.

·         Service users often had multiple problems and relied on support from a range of agencies.

Brett Pagdin – Healthy Stockport

·         Working at the lower end of the spectrum of need, with a focus on prevention, health promotion and awareness raising, particularly with GPs and other health professionals in relation to symptoms and signs of risky behaviour.

·         Brief interventions provided in the form of lifestyle discussions with clients to identify reasons for change and identify goals to motivate that change.

·         Engagement with health and social care workers to encourage their clients to have a conversation about lifestyle via a referral to Healthy Stockport.

·         Healthy Stockport took a holistic approach to lifestyle that made conversations easier, rather than focus on one behaviour only.

Grant Jackson – Stockport NHS Foundation Trust

·         Alcohol nurses were now embedded within the hospital, particularly in the Emergency Department. Research indicated that 1 in 8 patients would change behaviour as a result of conversation with a practitioner in hospital. Efforts were ongoing to ensure this contact was mainstream activity.

·         There were approximately 50 admissions per week due to alcohol intoxication, not including those who did not admit to this as a cause.

·         Efforts were ongoing to bring together services to address repeat attenders.

·         There was a particular problem with those who were homeless as they did not have access to GP and primary care services. There were pathways to support these individuals but often there were serious challenges in these cases.

Dr Steve Watkins, Director for Public Health

·         Limited intake of alcohol could have a beneficial affect, but most people did not drink such small quantities.

·         There was a danger in unsafe levels of drinking not just because of its impact on health, but because of the danger in being drunk and suffering impairment of judgement.

·         There were clear benefits to early intervention but often interventions were only successful in changing behaviour after a crisis.

·         The community and families of misusers were vital to supporting people in recovery and in maintaining abstinence.

Councillors then asked questions and made comments, including:-

·         Given the rise in 30 year old adults developing liver problems, it was suggested that alcohol messages in schools were not proving effective. There was research to suggest that public health messages directed at children were most effective with those children who were least likely to engage in risky behaviour, so it would be more effective to focus on developing young people’s skills to make sound choices. In California, significant reductions in smoking had been achieved with a policy to not promote anti-smoking messages in schools as this reinforced the impressions of smoking being adult behaviour.

·         Attitudes towards drinking were ingrained within British culture, with ‘fun’ often being framed within the context of alcohol. Unsafe  ...  view the full minutes text for item 2.

To consider the next steps needed as part of the Scrutiny Review.

The Chair confirmed that the next meeting would take place at Cirtek House and the Scrutiny Committee would be receiving submissions from service users and carers.