To think drunks waste a lot of NHS money during the weekends

[Dindipoop]

I know I'm being unreasonable, and know that every person deserves treatment no matter what, but I had to go to A&E yesterday after a tooth infection left me vomiting, with cold shivers and dizziness. I thought it was the beginning of sepsis, which turned out to be right.

Last night, whilst I waited with a drip attached to my arm, and feeling really shit, 3 different people, drunk, and one of them came along with 3 family members with a spar bag full of goodies and snacks. They were sat talking, making crude and racist jokes and burping. I managed to give them a death stare and they stopped, but still carried on with the eating and burping and taking advantage of the hospital's free coffee and tea.

One of the drunks, was constantly walking about and talking incoherently even though he couldn't balance. At point he fell right in my feet and almost pulled the canula out of my arm. After this he was taken to a cubicle and made to stay there.

The third, was a woman with vomit all down her leg, she'd been seen by the doctor and just sat there and then exclaimed she was free to go home but carried on sitting there because buses didn't start until 5am. It was 3am by then and the waiting area was getting busier with only a few seats available.

It was absolutely ridiculous. I can't believe how a&e was being treated like a playground and family day out by them.

[SleepFreeZone]

I totally agree and im actually really surprised this hasn't happened yet. It seems to me that you could easily do a breath test and determine whether the person is over the limit. If so they get charged for treatment, no?

[madein1995]

I also think a person could be over the limit but their injury not a result of drinking. For eg, they were walking home from a night out and were mugged/in a club and some drunk dickhead attacked them. They were out on a night out, but fell awkwardly and dislocated something (happened to me). They were on a night out and their appendix burst. They were on a night out and fell and twisted their ankle. They were on a night out and sexually assaulted. I do know lots of cases are there because of alcohol poisoning, but I think it a bit simplistic to say that all injuries sustained when drunk are a result of being drunk. That said, I don't think staff should put up with abuse and there should be a bigger detterant for that - security guards/police called etc, there's no excuse for threatening behaviour

[BastardBernie]

But marijuana is baaaad and very very illegal.
Definitely do not sit at home with a pack of chocolate Hob Nobs with a cup of tea and have a cheeky puff. That is bad.
Instead, drink alcohol, completely alter your personality (usually for the worse I'd say but I'm bias ), get so dehydrated you still feel shit 48hrs later and be 50 quid down.

[CountryCaterpillar]

I'm really torn on this. I hate the boozy teenage/freshers week/ work culture but a family member is an alcoholic that is often quite seriously ill with it. Lifethreateningly so 3 times in the last year. I dont think she should be written off. If there was a proper halfway between sectioning and the once every few weeks "care in the community" she'd be so much healthier. She will eat if others cook for her, and is so much safer when sectioned. But blatantly doesn't need that level of expense all year..

[gaaahhhh]

YANBU.
I know paramedics, most of their calls are on Friday/Saturday nights on pub/bar areas. And they receive so much abuse from their patients. A thankless job sometimes. :(

[dalmatianmad]

I'm an A+E sister, the amount of intoxicated people that come through our doors every day is just ridiculous!

They are often abusive, verbally and physically.

It's really unfair for the "real" patients that are unwell and feeling scared and vulnerable.
I don't want to spend my time (often missing out on parents evening and sports day) on these time wasting idiots

[Honeybee79]

I think as soon as you start introducing value judgments into the NHS in relation to who is less "deserving" of treatment, then you're on a v v slippery slope.

[Areyoufree]

Jesus, when I was a teenager, I wouldn't even pay 50p for the cloakroom! If they had charged at a and e for alcohol related issues, I wouldn't have gone (not that I ever needed to, but a friend of mine did and probably would have died had she not gone). Drunks in a and e are a nightmare, but I'm not sure what the solution is.

[AlPacinosHooHaa]

Surely difference though in the sheer volume of drunks at the same time ie Friday, Saturday - new year etc, ALL clogging up a vital life and death service - through choosing to drink on those days?

Fat people, smokers, motorbike accidents also heavily use NHS but not all on a Friday night thereby making it a very precarious situation if you do have a genuine injury that needs attending too.

I used to drink alot when younger - never to the extent we see in the rags, ie dress over head pucking on pavement, however its by grace of god I never ended up in a and e.

I think a simple drunk tank policy and very strict payment for self induced health issues on friday - sat night - other nights, would go a long way to curbing peoples wreck less abandonment on those days.

The NHS has to make choices, simple as that. I dread one of the DC falling ill over a weeked due to this.

[witsender]

Meek... But to them I was probably like every other pissed up teenager

You were just like every other pissed up teenager. Stupid and self absorbed. And deserving of help. No-one has said otherwise, but it was your fault you got that drunk, and you should bear responsibility.

[Janey50]

Oh don't get me started on drunks and A and E. It is one of my pet hates,the way drunks roll up at the hospital and expect (and sometimes get) priority treatment over people who's ailments are not self inflicted. I have been to A and E departments over the last 10 years or so for myself,with a trapped umbilical hernia, (V V painful) and with my DD with appendicitis and kidney stones (not both at the same time thankfully!). As luck would have it,each incident always happened on a Friday or Saturday evening,just about the worst time of the week as far as drunks attending A and E are concerned. Every time,I witnessed disgusting behaviour by various specimens. And every time,I got the distinct impression that we were having to wait longer because of these people. Ok I know I will get people saying 'everyone is entitled to be treated regardless of the circumstances'. That's as well as may be,but firstly,they should not be given priority treatment,and secondly,maybe charging them for their treatment might make them think twice in future before getting into a fight or falling down in the gutter.

[blackcherries]

The costs involved in introducing such a policy, enforcing it and dealing with contested cases would be substantial. How would any judgment realistically be made, and by whom? What about people whose drinks have been spiked or have been drinking responsibly but suffered another accident? Misinformation about costs causing genuine patients to avoid treatment?
I agree something needs to be done but this is not the answer.

[AlPacinosHooHaa]

I am not talking about geuinie alcoholics with uncontrollable addictions...who need proper treatment and care BTW that to me is different

[Valentine2]

I am not talking about alcoholics. I am talking about binge drinking and I don't think it would be that hard to detract from. There are similar fines elsewhere as well. For example, paying the cost of all the services that they used including ambulance, the hospital and police, if relevant.
I don't think the reason that it will be poor who will bear the brunt is valid. In the end, it's what best for everyone including the drunkards themselves.

[Valentine2]

meek
Yes you were like every other pissed teenager truly. No difference. We don't experiment with lots of other things because we know we will have to pay a price. Why should alcohol be any different?

[Cherrysoup]

Dilemma, isn't it? In A&E one early, early morning with suspected meningitis. Drunk party going on, guy was in front of me, had a drink fuelled fight, someone half ripped off his ear. I was noise sensitive due to the crashing migraine I'd had all day. Not a happy girl.

I read somewhere they were trialling a drunk tank which was monitored to ensure people were OK. Sounds good. Fine them before they leave! (I'm aware of the smoking/obesity/dangerous sports arguments)

[Crumbs1]

It's hard because so often drunks turning up are people with additional mental health problems- and the resources for mental health are sadly lacking.
I do think we should breathalyse suspected drunks and automatically discharge all people over a certain blood alcohol level (higher than drink drive limit) unless injury is life threatening. If they are stroppy it should be to a police cell.

[Littlelanecountrygirl]

Something which has worked quite well here is the SOS bus

It's funded by the council, pubs, clubs and charity donations

Parked on the Main Street every weekend. They hand out free water, offer a safe space to anyone and more importantly mop up the drunks who would've been taken to A&E previously. I think they even do minor stiches etc. They hand out confirms, act as a meeting point for lost friends and go into pubs and clubs to pick up drunks from the toilets/floor/stairwells. They take them back and rehydrate them, hold their heads whilst they vomit and do everything they can to keep them away from A&E!

[sharktoothcushion]

I am probably bu too, I logically don't know where to put the rather intoxicated or the self injured through booze. Shamefully I was one of them a very long time ago, I sliced open every toe on my right foot juniors a jeep whilst jaywalking!

Last time I was legitimately in a&e though 5 different asain men waked in complaining of chest pains. None of them was having a heart attack, and all was accompanied by about 10 relatives. big sure what was going on there..

[Yoksha]

Tell me about it. My dear sil's mum died at 4 am today after being sent home from A&E twice. She was vomiting & pain in side. Given 2 co-codamol 1st time. Second time given morphine injection then sent home. Died 3 hrs later. Why! Dept was busy with drunks.

[sharktoothcushion]

Juniors a jeep! That's a new one! That actual ment jumping over a small wall!

[ImperialBlether]

The way to do it would be to stick 100% extra tax on the price of a drink, whether it's from the supermarket or the pub, and give that money to A&E. There's no other way around it. Then if people drink less, A&E benefits anyway, just as if they drink more.

It's ridiculous that the government allowed all night drinking and doesn't tax alcohol enough. It's not much more for a bottle of wine than it was 30 years ago.

[Sallystyle]

A&E is pretty busy due to sport injuries, especially on weekends.

The main problem is with the other end, not enough free beds to move A&E patients who need admitting because the lack of social care means many people are staying for months when they are medically fit.

The 'drunks' are the least of the problem I think.

[Werkzallhourz]

There's been a lot of research done on the implications of the night time economy, and how the situation could be changed. One of the most major problems is that venues are now designed for the maximum consumption of alcohol in a way that didn't exist twenty years ago: everything from the lack of seating to the music policies.

To all extents, the weekend binge drinking crisis has been engineered in a quest to sell more alcohol more quickly. This could be arrested by clever and thoughtful legislation, but I can't see that coming any time soon.

I really think we need to separate out the alcohol cases from other A&E cases. We ought to have "drunk tanks" with a police presence to protect medical practitioners. I also think that alcohol induced problems should carry a small fine.

I hate to say it but one of the largest causes of violence has been the unintended consequence of the smoking ban because it creates congregations of drunk people on the streets smoking. This creates situations on the street by which aggression and violence kicks off in a way that never used to occur.

But since we appear to live in a country where no one governs properly anymore, I can't really see anything changing.

[ImperialBlether]

But, U2, the people with sports injuries are trying to keep themselves fit and healthy. If you're pissed out of your head, keeping fit isn't your goal!