North East Lincolnshire
Drug & Alcohol Action Team (DAAT)
Alcohol
Alcohol Harm Reduction
North East Lincolnshire is estimated to have 25,000 hazardous or harmful drinkers, 5,000 dependant drinkers and 15,000 binge drinkers and 45 % of all crime is believed to be alcohol related.
In 2006 the North East Lincolnshire Public Health Department embarked upon a consultation and research study known as a needs assessment, culminating in a document called Alcohol misuse – assessing the health and social needs in North East Lincolnshire. As well as analysing local data and linking it to national surveys, the study involved face to face interviews with young people, families, drinkers, chronic and dependant alcohol users, domestic violence survivors and many others. The study revealed a local situation of considerable alcohol misuse, where the physical and mental health harms, problems related to alcohol fuelled crime and disorder, effects on families and communities, adverse effects on the economy through absenteeism, lost productivity and crime are a major concern.
North East Lincolnshire exhibits a significant negative deviation from the national and regional averages across a series of alcohol related indicators spanning health, crime and other social factors. The level of alcohol related crime is second highest in the Yorkshire and Humber region, with about a third of all domestic violence being alcohol related. The gloomy picture is not just found amongst the adult population, with alcohol being the main presenting problem substance with those under 19 years of age to NEST our young person’s substance misuse treatment service, and almost 300 youngsters turning up at A & E in 2006/07 with alcohol ingestion. The problem sits within genders, all age ranges and socio economic groups.
The study’s findings confirmed local opinion that North East Lincolnshire has a problem drinking culture and that only a coordinated approach involving all partners could begin to make inroads to the problem.
In 2007 Safer Communities produced a local alcohol harm reduction strategy ‘Reasonable Measures’ and an accompanying action plan that sets out how the Partnership will progress and prioritise the work required. The strategy and plan link directly to the Government’s strategy for reducing alcohol related harms known as Safe. Sensible. Social.
Since that time a steering group the Drug and Alcohol Task Group and four sub groups, managed by the Drug and Alcohol Action Team have been established and progress across the four key themes of the strategy are already well underway, the long term aims of which are to change the behaviour and attitudes to irresponsible drinking –
The individual actions are all contained within the action plan for Reasonable Measures – tackling the health and social harms of alcohol misuse in North East Lincolnshire, which can be found in the publications section of this website.> Improving advice, information and awareness available to the community, especially young people, about alcohol misuse, the harms it can cause and how to seek help if necessary
> Reducing alcohol related crime, disorder and road casualties
> Better identifying and treating alcohol misuse
> Improving data and information collection and analysis in order to widen our knowledge about the problem and potential solutions and to monitor progress.
In particular services that can identify problem drinkers have been established within the local Accident and Emergency Department, with links back to an individual’s GP and the offer of help from a new team of trained counsellors and access to specialist treatment if required.
These ‘alcohol specific’ strategies and actions also link into other plans managed by the Safer Communities Partnership. So for example we have to make sure that someone being supported by the Family Intervention Programme who has a drug problem can get rapid access to treatment, or a person subject to an anti- social behaviour order whose behaviour is linked to alcohol abuse can receive help for that problem. Often a user of illegal drugs will turn to alcohol as they begin to recover from their drug addiction when in treatment, or a husband who commits domestic violence upon his wife does so when in drink. The cross cutting nature of the Partnership’s work on drugs and alcohol seeks to tackle not only the direct crimes involved but also the causes of many others.
As we move into 2008/09 the Partnership plans to launch an Alcohol Intervention Programme similar to DIP, that will begin to identify offenders who commit crimes when fuelled by alcohol and direct them towards help with their drink problem.
For the first time the Government has introduced national indicators for alcohol, expecting all areas to reduce alcohol related hospital admissions and reduce the communities perception of drunk and rowdy behaviour as a local problem.
