Drunk tanks

Hear! Hear! henetha and other posters of similar comment. The NHS is in enough financial difficulty without having to sort out binge drinkers who think it's the 'thing to do'.

Well this opens a great debate on what the NHS should provide in the way of care. Should we stop treating those who have smoked for years and now have COPD and probably several smoking related illnesses, or those who have in the past used drugs or drink and are now also suffering with related illnesses. What about obesity which can lead to diabetes, weak joints etc. Our NHS was supposed to treat those who are ill or injured and hopefully make them well. We now have an NHS that is trying to cure everything under the sun! Knowone could have predicted the things that people expect to be able to get from our NHS now! I absolutely think that there are areas of medical help and expertise that we the general public should pay for but that's another story!

The pubs and clubs should pay for the drunk tanks and for the NHS staff who tend to those people who are over drunk.

...just as they do for extra policing.

The fact that those people were going to A&E would probably have remained hidden to most of us had our government continued spending our money like water.

I too believe that if someone gets into such a drunken state that they need NHS assistance, then they SHOULD pay for their treatment.

I'm no prude, but I find the thought of girls who wee in the street, and brawl like lads, appalling. It's certainly not the way that we behaved when I was growing up in the 70's, but I get the impression from what I see on TV that this is becoming something that girls appear to be proud of and wonder what happened to self respect.

Agreed, glammy.

lack of means???

Yes, I agree with your photo DJ but those who regularly spend a fortune, usually at weekends, drinking themselves into a drunker stupor, don’t lack the means in thst sense.

If they can afford that, then they can afford to contribute to their bed and breakfast (as it were) courtesy of the NHS.

If it was up to me I'd have them all charged with being drunk and disorderly once they'd sobered up in the drunk tank, then they would be fined at least the amount it cost to keep them there until sober. That way the drunks would pay for their own care, not society. I do think society needs a rethink, but that won't change overnight.

That makes sense OldMeg. If they can afford to pour £50 or more down their necks, only to throw it all back up again later in the evening; they can afford to pay for the cost of their care. As for comparing recreational binge drinking to drug/alcohol and smoking addiction; I don't think theyre the same. I don't think you can conflate someone with a recognised addiction and someone who goes on a weekend drinking binge.

I sat with my mum on a trolley in a hospital corridor while at least 2 drunks had beds - the swearing - the vomiting - all witnessed by my ill mum - I had seen enough after an hour plus and sought out a nurse - begging her to find my mum somewhere more private - no joy
So I totally agree - no drunks to be taken to A&E - throw them in a converted trailer with a running hose - why should others have to wipe the vomit and god knows what else

There is some disgusting behaviour from drunks. NHS staff often have to deal with the fallout. I think drunk tanks are a good idea, but I think the people admitted should be given a bill when they leave. I'd like drunks to pay for their treatment at A& E, but if someone is admitted with injuries, someone has to assess whether it's an alcohol related injury. Out with middle aged friends for dinnner and drinks when my friend was jostled and slipped and twisted her ankle. We had to take her to A & E. We'd all had few glasses of wine and were a little tiddly, but by no means drunk. So how to draw the line?

Not a running hose, please. Think of all that waste water.

The most obvious reason that people stop a behaviour is when the repercussions are worse than the pleasure they get. I think tighter measures on all anti social drink related behaviours would help.

Friday/Saturday drunks are not sick Durhamjen nor are they without means, alcohol is an expensive luxury

Paddyann wrote:

"I think its a good idea,it can be run with a couple of staff and free up the A and E staff to get on with their real job".

I agree. However it has happened that what might look like drunken is actually a proper disease such as brain tumour, or stroke, or head injury, or vertigo.

For this reason the drunktank would have to be staffed with sufficient doctors to diagnose the sort of injury. Also needs trained nursing auxilaries to give IV hydration stomach washgouts, or coffee enemas or whatever they do to life threatened drunks. It's not cheap.

I say get the police to really screw the clubs and pubs that serve drunks. Make a serious example via police powers and let deterrence work.

Antiampl I think it’s fairly easy to tell the difference you do say you d had a few drinks but weren’t drunk so that’s your answer Was your friend sick over the doctor spitting and swearing at the nurses no I m sure not so where’s the difficulty ?

Bluebelle, look at anita's story.
If they'd all had a few drinks, they were all over the daily limit.
Should her friend have been charged?
If she hadn't had anything to drink, perhaps she would not have fallen over and twisted her ankle.

Excessive drunkeness can be solved, but only if society has the will to do it.

Alcohol has always been a problem right through history. It's in every book including the problems with in The Bible for example.

The thing is today with 24/7 news we know too much about whats happening. Yes the problem has got bigger in The U.K. however dont think it hasnt always been a problem because it has.

That doesnt make it right the abuse of alcohol however it is what it is.

How do we sort out what is not bought on by fault and not treat in the NHS then ?

Do we not treat the obese, the smoker, the person who has caused an accident in a car and so on? Where do we stop?

I work in the recovery industry so have a bigger overview of what is happening with this.

For the record though alcohol abuse costs far more than people realise as it is not just the NHS that is affected by it. It's the courts, police, prisons, social services etc etc. Then you need to look at the social issues behind it. However yu3 other side of the equation is it keeps people in work. I am not talking of the NHS here.

It's not as straightforward as it seems

Obviously there are far, far wider issues related to alcohol consumption, but the drink tank sounds a good option for the 'safe storage' of drunken souls.

Niobe those who are overweight or smokers don't generally turn up at A&E on a regular basis because they've eaten an entire Xmas super sized Toblerone or had a few too many cigarettes.

Jane so yes entirely agree with you that drunks should pay at least something towards their treatment. Teenage drunks are a menace ..... often taken to A&E where they remain abusive and out of control for many hours. On that "24 Hours in A&E" I've seen a few examples. Of course once they sober up, they're usually embarrassed by the little they can recall of their drunken antics. Is that a good night out?

I've often thought that people who are just so drunk that they end up in A &E should be charged. God knows why we don't do it. £100 a time might make them think twice.

We are far too soft IMO on a lot of things in the UK. As usual, I suspect no party of whatever colour would even think of introducing such legislation, for fear of losing votes.

We have Street Pastors in our area, who patrol the various places where most of the drinking goes on. I don,t really know if their presence is very useful or not....giving out pairs of flip flops to those who have lost their shoes, and trying their best to be helpful. It's become the culture now to have quite a bit to drink before going out, so that when they do hit the pubs and clubs the sole intent is to drink to oblivion. When we used to have the "off licence" with regulated opening times as opposed to freely available in most supermarkets there was,nt this culture we have now. People still liked a drink but the rules were enforced more. A night locked up in a police cell for being drunk and disorderly was a timely reminder. To me we should revert back to "off licences" and not sell booze in other shops, so that we can have a bit more control....it worked before and it could again. I don't think we should have Drunk Tanks" either, that's just pandering to the situation and making it seem the norm. No.. fine them for it, and get some of them on community service....scrubbing out public toilets and the mess that's left in the streets. All the extra street cleaning goes on the council tax bill so many people having to pay for the unsocial behaviour of others.

There is an SOS bus in a town near me. Watched a programme about it a couple of weeks ago, and the abuse the volunteers take is astounding. Not everyone, of course. Some want to quietly lay their head down.

I assume the duty on alcohol will pay for the policing & treatment of alcohol related problems as the duty on tobacco contributes to the cost of treating tobacco related problems?

I think drunk tanks would be a perfect service to be run by private healthcare companies, like Virgin Care.

Let them set one up outside every A&E department - the hospitals could rent them space in the carpark and generate a few extra £££s. The NHS doesn't have to collect any money from anyone then, Virgin can do all the admin and payments, so the NHS is still free at the point of use and the taxpayer isn't paying for people's irresponsible behaviour.

If you can't afford to pay, don't get so drunk.