to think that anybody who bowls up at A&E to have drink-induced damage to themselves repaired...

[duchesse]

...should be charged a token but significant £100 by the hospital? Might make em a bit wary of pissing away £50+ on drink then taking on the first person that eyes em up wrong? AIBU?

Absolutely agree with you duchesse - maybe it would be unworkable but I agree with the sentiment. Basically, people who are drunks who take up beds will eventually detract from what the NHS is there for which is SICK people and if you are drunk you are not sick, you are just drunk. It has nothing to do with compassion if people have sad lives but A&E is not meant to be a counselling service.

errr...you can be both drunk and sick

alcohol is not magic charm that means the ills of the world cannot touch you

you can be drunk and be mugged

you can be drunk and have cancer

you can be drunk and be run over by somebody else's dangerous driving

you can be drunk and be stabbed by your violent partner

you can be drunk and have a heart attack

how do you prove that the heart attack/mugging/running over was caused by the drunkenness?