5500 GP alcohol consultations per day in Scotland

According to a survey conducted by the BMA in Scotland, on one day in April, alcohol was a factor in more than 5,500 consultations in general practice. This equates to around 1.4 million consultations per year, costing the NHS in excess of £28 million, and accounts for six per cent of all GP consultations.

The results of the BMA study are based on a sample of 31 practices (3% of the total number of practices) from across Scotland. These practices reported that, on the 21st of April 2011, 169 consultations with a GP or practice nurse had alcohol as a factor.

However, critics attacked the survey as unreliable, given especially the extremely small percentage of GP practices who responded and the absence of any attempt to ensure that they were properly representative of Scotland as a whole. One critic, Nigel Hawkes of the Straight Statistics website, accused the BMA of being a serial offender in publishing ‘dodgy surveys’.

Election Call

The survey results were released prior to the Scottish Parliament General Election, and BMA Scotland called on candidates in all the political parties to acknowledge the damaging influence of alcohol misuse on individuals and in communities every day in Scotland and to spend one of the last few days of the election campaign outlining how they will tackle alcohol misuse in the next Scottish Parliament.

The BMA summed up the position:

In one day:

• alcohol will cost Scotland £97.5 million in terms of health, violence and crime

• alcohol will kill five people

• 98 people will be admitted to hospital with an alcoholrelated condition

• 23 people will commit a drink driving offence

• 450 victims of violent crime will perceive their assailant to be under the influence of alcohol

Dr Alan McDevitt, Deputy Chairman of the BMA’s Scottish General Practitioners’ Committee, said:

“We wanted to conduct this survey to demonstrate very clearly how much of an impact alcohol has on the everyday work of general practice. Those who suffer from alcoholrelated health problems are not just alcoholics or heavy binge drinkers. By regularly drinking over and above recommended limits, a significant proportion of the adult population is at risk of experiencing health problems that are linked to the alcohol they consume, whether it is high blood pressure, breast cancer or even domestic abuse.

“In just one day, nurses and doctors working in general practices across Scotland saw more than 5,500 patients where alcohol had contributed to their ill health. But the patients seen in general practice are just the tip of the iceberg. The impact of alcohol misuse across the rest of the NHS, in hospitals and in our communities is far greater.

“That is why we are asking the parliamentary candidates to spend one day talking about how they are going to address this serious issue in the next Scottish Parliament. I think this is the very least that they can do for their constituencies.”

Theresa Fyffe, Chief Executive of the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) Scotland, said:

“We now need to hear from politicians of all parties about what they are going to do to reduce the harmful effects of alcohol. For instance, they could consider investing in more alcohol liaison nurses who provide a whole range of support that ultimately saves the NHS money by reducing re-attendance at A & E and hospital admissions. It is time for the political parties to set out exactly what they intend to do to help stem the tide of harm caused by alcohol across Scotland.”

Evelyn Gillan, Chief Executive of Alcohol Focus Scotland, said:

“We must face up to the fact that the increase in alcohol consumption is being fuelled by the fact that alcohol is more affordable, more available and more heavily marketed than at any time over the last thirty years. The cheaper it is the more we consume. For the health and well-being of everyone in Scotland robust action must be taken to increase price. As we approach the Scottish elections on 5 May, we would urge politicians from all parties to refl ect on the worrying levels of alcohol-related harm which individuals, families and communities are experiencing and to consider again the urgent need for a minimum unit price for alcohol to reduce the devastating effects of excessive drinking fuelled by cheap booze.”

Dr Bruce Ritson, Chairman of Scottish Health Action on Alcohol Problems (SHAAP) said:

“The level of harm caused by alcohol in Scotland concerns not only health workers, but other professions, individuals, families and communities across the country. All will be looking to the next Scottish Parliament for effective action to reduce problem alcohol use. Enforcement of existing legislation is one approach, but politicians will need to recognise that most people seen in general practice with an alcohol-related condition have not broken any law. The simple fact is that individually and collectively we are drinking at levels that compromise our health and well-being and, as a society, we need to drink less.”

However, Nigel Hawkes and Straight Statistics remained unconvinced. They complained that, as well as the failure to ensure the representativeness of the respondents to the survey, the BMA had also neglected to standardise the criteria for defining a consultation as ‘alcohol related’, making it difficult or impossible to interpret the results of the survey.