Drunks taking quarter of A&E weekend shift

10:42am Saturday 16th February 2008

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DOCTORS at Dorset County Hospital are spending up to a quarter of their weekend shift time treating drunk people.

The warning comes from the accident and emergency department as figures show admissions for alcohol intoxication tripled in four years.

A&E consultant Dr Richard Huppertz estimated he and his colleagues spend between 10 and 25 per cent of their weekend hours dealing with intoxicated people.

He said: "It can be very frustrating, but unfortunately it is part of the work in accident and emergency. It is part of our bread and butter.

"They are not the nicest group of patients.

"But this is really the only place where these folk can be managed safely."

Dorset County Hospital figures show that admissions for alcohol intoxication during December went up from four in 2004 to 14 last year.

But staff say numbers of intoxicated patients are likely to be much higher. If another condition is treated at the same time the admission is not classed as alcohol-related.

Dr Huppertz said drunk patients caused problems with violence at the hospital and admitted they could occasionally block beds needed by other patients. He said: "Violence is definitely an issue.

"Without alcohol probably more than half of all violence here would disappear."

He said most drunk patients were in their 20s and early 30s, with their average stay time between four and five hours.

"This is more of a problem at weekends and during the late evenings.

"There has been enough of an increase in these type of patients to be noticed, but the problem has not doubled."

He added: "The type of patients we see vary.

"Some just need watching while they sleep it off while others are more vocal and can play up.

"The vocal ones can be quite time-consuming."

Earlier this month the Dorset Echo reported how NHS workers in Dorset suffered 82 attacks last year.