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       #Post#: 17--------------------------------------------------
       Reduction NEL admissions of Alcohol overdose patients using Alco
       hol Care Team?
       By: admini5 Date: April 16, 2015, 5:07 am
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       How to reduce acute hospital admissions of Alcohol overdose
       patients using Alcohol Care Team initiative?
       It is estimated that the annual cost of alcohol- related harm to
       the NHS in England is £2.7 billion (Department of Health 2008).
       Of this amount, 78% of the costs were incurred as hospital-
       based care. Inpatient costs alone were responsible for 45% of
       this spend (NHS Confederation and Royal College of Physicians
       2010). A significant proportion of this spending is avoidable
       and alcohol services could be more effective, cheaper and
       person-centred if each area had a plan to deliver evidence-based
       care in an appropriate setting, integrated between primary and
       secondary care.
       Very few hospitals have dedicated alcohol services, and a 2009
       survey showed that only 42% of acute hospitals had any alcohol
       specialist nurse support (Ward et al 2009).
       The principal component of this initiative is for a
       multidisciplinary Alcohol Care Team in each district hospital,
       led by a consultant with designated sessions, who will
       collaborate across hospitals and primary care, to develop a
       coordinated alcohol treatment and prevention programme. This
       team would organise systematic interventions and alcohol
       specialist nurses. The evidence in this document is not only for
       the team, but for a variety of actions, including brief
       interventions, specialist alcohol nurses and ways of reaching
       out to patients.
       Alcohol Care Teams coordinate policies of care across acute
       departments, including Accident and Emergency (A&E). They
       provide access to brief interventions and appropriate services
       within 24 hours of the detection of alcohol-related problems.
       Structured advice lasts for 20–40 minutes and involves
       personalised feedback to individuals about their level of health
       risk because of alcohol consumption, practical advice about
       reducing alcohol consumption, with a range of options for
       change, and written information to support the advice.
       Hospitals have coordinated policies of care for patients with
       alcohol-related problems in A&E and Acute Medicine departments,
       including a 7-day Alcohol Specialist Nurse Service, a Mental
       Health Crisis Team and Alcohol Link Workers’ Network.
       Each health area can establish a hospital-led, multi-agency
       Assertive Outreach Alcohol Service (AOAS) to move the most
       frequent attendees and biggest consumers of hospital resources
       into a more appropriate, supported, community environment. These
       initiatives may require a degree of ‘pump-priming’ to get them
       up and running.
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