The latest research suggests that alcohol is implicated in 33,000 deaths a year in the UK. In addition one in six patients attending accident and emergency departments have drink-related injuries or problems, and this figure rises to eight in ten at peak times. Nurses, midwives and health visitors are there at the sharp end, treating these patients and in a unique position to detect the early warning signs of alcohol abuse.
To highlight the issue and encourage the valuable work going on in the NHS to tackle the problem, the Nursing Council on Alcohol (NCA) and UNISON, the UK
