E-bulletin for October 2008
Headlines
- HubCAPP Survey
- From Policy to Project
- New Additions to the Hub
- Updates from Alcohol Concern and Department of Health
Articles
HubCAPP Survey
Initial 6 month evaluation
HubCAPP has now been up and running for 6 months! Please tell us your views about the site and let us know if it is meeting your needs by completing a short survey. Follow this link
Deadline for responses is 25th October.
HubCAPP now has over 45 projects and 12 strategies listed from all across England. Have a look what is going on in your region.
From Policy to Project
Camden's Alcohol Harm Reduction Strategy and linked project
Since 2005 Camden PCT's Annual Public Health Reports have emphasised the need for more work around alcohol including improved work in schools and the evaluation and possible expansion of the A&E alcohol work. In 2006 the Camden Health Scrutiny Panel released a report on 'alcohol misuse' which recommended the development of a local alcohol harm reduction strategy.
Camden's Alcohol Harm Reduction Strategy 2007 to 2010 was developed in partnership by Camden Primary Care Trust and Camden Council with a range of alcohol service users, carers, service providers and strategic groups also contributing.
The strategy focuses on four key areas: tackling crime and disorder; health; adult treatment and support; children and young people. The strategy also builds on and supports several local initiatives including Camden's five-year sustainable community strategy "Camden Together" which sets out the vision for Camden to be a borough of opportunity with a connected community where people live active, healthy lives.
A project directly linked to this strategy is:
- Local Enhanced Service (LES)
The LES commenced in March 2008 and has been implemented in Camden GP Practices with input from the PCT Sensible Drinking Service and other Camden alcohol provider services.
GP practices can choose to participate in three levels of work; these are level 1: Screening and Brief Intervention, level 2: Extended Brief Interventions and/or level 3: Home Detox Interventions. Link
Read more about Camden's Alcohol Strategy
New Additions to the Hub
Leeds Pharmacy Brief Alcohol Interventions
In 2006, professionals from Leeds PCT and Leeds Pharmaceutical Committee undertook a research project on the feasibility of community pharmacists doing screening and brief interventions for hazardous drinkers as a routine part of their public health role.
Pharmacists from five differing Community Pharmacies took part. Each Pharmacy served different patient populations and ethnic backgrounds. The purchasing of medicines and prescriptions was used as a pretext for screening and if the patient was identified as a hazardous drinker, agreement was sought to discuss drinking and the brief intervention enacted.
The research found that for the brief interventions to be feasible, that involvement of all staff at the pharmacy, including support staff, was necessary. Another key finding was the need to have private consulting areas and the availability of the pharmacist to conduct the Brief Intervention.
South Birmingham - Route 50 Project - Aquarius
The 'Route 50' Project was conceived as a community based action research project using a variety of intervention strategies to reduce the impact of alcohol misuse.
Several key intervention were used including: the re-establishment of PubWatch; bar staff training; test purchasing by local police and publicity campaigns to licensed premises. Structured communications also took place between licensed trade, the community and media.
The Route 50 project was based on the multi-component or whole population model approach. It aimed to engage a range of local stakeholders – including residents, the retail trade, alcohol education/treatment organisations and enforcement agencies and adopted a multi-faceted approach that used both incentives and penalties.
Northampton – PolAmb
PolAmb combines the efforts of ambulance and policy emergency services on Friday and Saturday nights in Northampton.
The unit consisted of an Emergency Care Practitioner (ECP) and a Police Officer based in an ambulance in a central location. PolAmb was staffed from 7pm to 3am and could be used for treatment of minor injuries or transport to A&E if needed. It could also be deployed by either Ambulance or Police control rooms, with any conflicts resolved by clinical need first.
At times when PolAmb was operating licensed trade and door staff were instructed to send injured people to the PolAmb location rather than ring for an ambulance. During the most recent PolAmb activity (Nov and Dec 2007) 43% of calls required patients to attend A&E, another 43% were treated 'on the street' by PolAmb paramedics and the remaining 14% were dealt with by police, not requiring medical attention.
The project has had significant positive feedback from all involved. The presence of the police officer enabled the paramedic to attend potentially violent situations without having to await backup of the Police, thereby improving response times and patient care. The presence of the officer also afforded the opportunity to investigate serious crime early on.
Updates from Alcohol Concern and Department of Health
E-bulletin and how to list your project
These e-bulletin have now gone bi-monthly with the next due in December. If you'd like to include anything please contact the HubCAPP team: info@hubcapp.org.uk
You can now submit your own projects via the Submit a project option. You can also suggest a project to be listed on HubCAPP. It's important to remember that you don't need write anything new or complete lots of work to get your project listed. Follow these links today: Submit or Suggest a project
Changes to the HubCAPP website
Over the coming months you may start to notice changes to the HubCAPP website as we become part of the Local Alcohol Improvement Program being run and developed by the Department of Health.
Youth projects
From 1st October HubCAPP will start to collect targeted youth alcohol interventions. This opportunity is funded by Comic Relief as part of a grant to build the capacity for the alcohol and youth sector. We will begin work on just being able to search for 'youth' projects as well.
If you would like your youth projects included or know of any that should be included on HubCAPP please contact Hajra Mir on 0207 264 0522.
Safe Sensible Social Further Consultation
The Department of Health is currently running a consultation which is likely to affect the future shape of alcohol sales, promotion and labelling. The alcohol team at the Department of Health is also seeking views on how accessibility to treatment for dependent drinkers can be improved. This makes it one of the most important opportunities since the development of MoCAM (Models of Care for Alcohol Misuse) to comment on the government's alcohol policies.
To make it easier for you to contribute to the consultation Alcohol Concern has organised this short form that lays out the key elements of the consultation. All you need to do is complete the form, together with your personal or organisational details and we will forward your response directly to the Department of Health ahead of the closing date on 14 October.
Click here to submit your response.
A copy of Alcohol Concern's draft consultation response is available here