Drunk tanks

Brilliant idea Primrose!

Hahaha....good grief.
Unbelievable.
Beds?
Showers?
They ought to be chucked into rooms with built in ledges (as in the USA) metal toilets without seats (as in prisons) and access to water (metal basin with sluice drain in the corner where the water can flow when the 'cell' is hosed down when empty.
Why provide showers? If they get manky with vomit and poo then let them go home in that state. Let them realise what a bloody mess they look and how disgusting they are.

In one eastern european city I went to they charged the equivalent of £10 for paper pyjamas and as much water as required and you could stay as long as you needed. If you were drunk & didn't use the service you would be arrested

What about people who couldn't pay, though? Those on a low income, for example? It could be argued that its discriminatory not to allow them safe shelter when they're vulnerable. Possibly more vulnerable than someone who has just gone out with their mates for a piss up.

Chronic alcoholism is an entirely different kettle of fish MissA.

I like your idea, Primrose. Assessed at the hospital door and if you’re drunk and incapable you go into the special facility. I have been to a (civilised, calm, safe) minor injuries clinic that stipulated at the entrance that no drink or drugs related cases would be seen, directing them to go to the nearest A & E. Directing them to the Virgin drunk tank would be a better idea all round.

It all opens up so many other issues though. What if someone was turned away from the hospital for being inebriated, and was later found to have had some serious health issue?

part of the problem, IMHO is the police. When I was a teenager, if I was picked up drunk I would be taken to a police cell. In the morning it would be a case of kicked out early doors or, possibly a court appearance. Nobody wanted that. Now Police take drunks to A&E and leave them there for the NHS staff to sort out. At least that's what happens here.

I'd be quite happy for these binge drinkers to have to give a credit/debit card first before being treated and then be charged the full cost of their treatment to include staff wages/transportation/drugs etc. Double if they turn up a second time. That would sober a lot of them up.

Too bad if they choke on their own vomit. Getting drunk is a deliberate action as is driving a car when you've been drinking. Deliberate actions like those should not be tolerated.
One of my sons rang from hospital about 10 or more years ago. He'd been to a media bash (drinking, obviously) and, driving home to N Yorks in the rain no seatbelt on and, on his own admission, speeding in the early hours, he lost control of the car and went into the path of an oncoming lorry. Luckily, lorry driver was ok but son's car a write-off and hospitalised with a broken collar bone and various bruising. Nothing major. He was in the middle of telling the tale when I asked what woukd have happened if he'd killed the other driver, if his fiancée had been his passenger and got killed. He went silent. I told him not to ring again and it was a full 4 years before we spoke again. I didn't go to his wedding either. The fact that he wanted to prattle on about the crash made me disgusted. I won't get in my youngest daughter's car if she's had a drink OR if her mobile phone is on. It has to be off and in the boot. I've no truck with people whose stupid actions risk the lives of others.

Wouldn't the admin costs of trying to recoup the cost of their treatment be more than providing free treatment?

Police time, nhs admin time, court time, bailiff costs etc etc.

I'm thinking of all the admin work. Risk assessments, reviews, etc etc.

I think the problem is basically the availability of alcohol and attitudes to whether it is or is not socially acceptable to get really drunk.

having said that I grew up in the Glasgow area and know only too well how much people drank there in the 1950s and 1960s

I think governments should increase taxes on all forms of alcohol and make it illegal for publicans to serve obviously drunk customers. The money coming in from increased taxes could be used to inform youngsters of the health risks of drinking to excess and warn them how easy it is to become an alcoholic and be dependent on the stuff. Money should also be used to help those who genuinely want to stop drinking, but I have no problem with the drunk and incapable being fined or in other ways made to pay for the treatment they need.

The police aren’t to blame, Alistair. They don’t even have enough cells these days to cope with violent and destructive crime on a weekend, most of it also drink and drug related. They’ve nowhere to put a “normal” misbehaving drunk. The cells also have to accommodate a growing number of people with mental health issues who are vulnerable and a danger to themselves and sometimes to others. The police don’t want to lock them up, but often there’s nowhere else for them to go either. The emergency services work together and are all doing their best, but they are all over-stretched and, to my mind, under-resourced.

I watched '999' the other evening, and its clear that the police are taking on ever more complex roles.

I think it's a good idea to get these idiots off the streets but I think they should be taken to court and fined otherwise it's an easy option and there's no learning curve.

In our small town two young men have been stabbed and died over Christmas. I have lived here all my life and never have we had people killed when walking home from the pub in the evening. Both the people who died where not the ones drunk.

Many years ago, my mother's police constable cousin in Manchester would , when on the beat with his colleague, drag any drunks around the corner to a doorway on another beat. If this activity several times in a night, didn't allow them to sober up, then a night in a cell was even more uncomfortable.
More recently, I took my 90 year old father, writhing in pain, into A and E, having been recommended to do so by the locum who visited

He was put on a bare metal trolley. The nurse gestured to 2 neighbouring trolleys where there were drunken teenagers. ' they have vomited on to all the spare pillows I could find' she apologised. I wasn't too sure what to say when the father of one girl came over to apologise, too, citing her 18th birthday party as a reason. Dad had to wait 6 hours before a bed and pillow were available.
the father concerned should have taken responsibilty for his puking child.... otherwise a bare cell to allow them to sober up
How many members of staff are taken away from normal service to enable the safe overseeing of those with self inflicted troubles. I reckon my father should have had the treatment required in the hospital, not those who caused their own problems

Injuries caused by road traffic accidents are not treated free on the NHS, the cost is claimed back from insurance.
Heavy drinkers that deliberately go out to get bladdered should be required to purchase insurance to cover their care during the time they are incapable.
When I was in hospital we were in lockdown because of dru ks running riot in an assessment unit, it was very scary as we were sitting targets.

Actually it is nothing new. I worked in the A@E department of a major city in 1968 as a very junior student nurse. One of my jobs on Friday and Saturday nights was to lay out mattresses on the floor for the drunks to be put on. I then would spend the night walking around checking everyone was still breathing, had not vomited, soiled themselves etc. I like a drink as much as the next person but to be so inebriated that I would need hospital care is something outside my imagination.

I have to admit to drinking too much in the past but never ended up at a and e. I think this is a good idea though it’s sad that it is necessary. But I do think that those using it should have to pay something when they’ve sobered up.

harrigran We have all been young and how many can say they have not gone over the limit and I was no exception but like you I never in the 60's saw what is now common place in our city centres.
Where would we be without our emergency services and I feel so sorry for the guys and gals who have to deal with these individuals and if hospital treatment is needed for these drunks then a charge should be made for taking up the time and space involved. We are far too soft.

Just an aside - I can't see the title of this thread without singing 'Fariytale of New York'

Ok, as you were!

I damaged a tendon at a fireworks event about 10 years ago. The St John Ambulance volunteers there examined me and advised me to go to A&E. I got a taxi and went home. Why? It was after 9 on a Friday evening and I was alone with a seven year old GD.
I wanted to spare her the sight and sounds of the drunken people who would soon start to be brought in.
Although I saw my GP (the doctor kind!) on the Monday the ankle never completely recovered.

My friends and I were not aggressive or unpleasant. We were actually hospital worker colleagues from that hospital on a night out. Though my job was office based, have seen nursing staff having to put up with awful behaviour. I would love to see people made responsible for their own actions, particularly when NHS is in such dire straits. Trouble is where do you draw the line with drunk related injuries? Not all drunks are aggressive. If someone has been drinking and falls over who decides how intoxicated they are? In a busy A & E on a Sat night who is going to make that decision?wonder if we could introduce breathalisers? If you are over a certain limit then you have to pay a bill. I do think something needs to be done. x