The latest meeting of the APPG on Drugs, Alcohol and Justice was dedicated to looking at alcohol harm and treatment. Guest speakers were from VIA, introduced by the charity’s chair Yasmin Batliwala, who shared statistics to demonstrate the cost – both to individuals’ health and to services. The team would give thoughts on clinical harm, impact and innovative approaches.
There were around 600,000 people dependent on alcohol in the UK, and around 70 per cent of those had codependent mental health issues, she said – a link that was well-established by Dame Carol Black’s report. ‘Too many people are denied access to alcohol services because of their mental health,’ she said.
Local authority spending to treat these conditions was around £637m in 2021-22 which represented a real term spending cut of 27 per cent since 2014. There had been an 89 per cent increase in alcohol-related deaths over the last 20 years.
‘Are we doing enough to tackle the clinical impact of excessive alcohol consumption?’ asked Dr Yasir Abbasi, consultant psychiatrist and executive medical director at VIA. Clearly not, as he shared that more than 80 per cent of alcohol dependent people were not in treatment and there had been a 20 per cent increase in alcohol-related deaths since 2020. ‘People who are drinking in a dependent fashion are most likely to need a clinical intervention to come off,’ he said. He also highlighted the links to violent crime and cancer.
Lack of a new alcohol strategy since 2012 and the reduction in funding were driving the statistics, he said. We needed a new strategy to focus on tackling inequalities, provide treatment pathways for people suffering alcohol-related brain damage (ARBD), and take an evidence-based approach that included a meaningful discussion around minimum unit pricing. We also needed to focus on early life interventions and disrupting intergenerational transmission.
Providing clear pathways to treatment was a challenge said David Targett, area manager at VIA. NDTMS data showed 100,000 people in treatment with alcohol as a primary issue – preventing even 1 per cent of them needing treatment would have a strong impact. ‘For those suffering the most harm treatment is an established pathway, but those earlier on in their journey don’t want to come to a drug and alcohol service,’ he said.
Stigma often prevented people accessing alcohol treatment and many were reluctant to acknowledge that they had a problem. To address this, VIA had been trialling a service in the North West that reduced barriers by offering treatment as ‘lifestyle guidance’ rather than a drug and alcohol service. The New Beginnings service took referrals from both professionals and individuals and offered evening appointments, online groups, and telephone or video sessions that fitted around work and other commitments. The service looked at ways people could reduce their drinking while providing support for health and wellbeing. ‘We need a new alcohol strategy but also a healthy living strategy,’ said Targett.
Stigma not only created a barrier to people accessing services, but also led to under-reporting of alcohol consumption, said Gayleen Winn, head of VIA’s young people’s service. This was particularly prevalent around family support, with young people often complicit in hiding parental alcohol consumption through fear of social services and the prospect of being placed in care – 2.6m children lived with parents who were drinking at hazardous levels and alcohol-related problems were under the radar.
Early intervention could offer strategies to help them manage and cope. ‘We need to work with schools to help teachers look for signs that young people may need support and clearer pathways that encourage parents to seek help,’ said Winn. ‘We must intervene earlier, and we need more funding to break the cycle of intergenerational drinking. Let’s talk about issues openly and courageously so we can protect our children.’
Sharon Read, a peer mentor at VIA, explained how she had developed a problem with alcohol following early retirement and said that accessing services at VIA had changed her life. From being a ‘binge drinker’ who ‘saw alcohol as the only way I could face things’, she was now volunteering as a peer mentor and taking qualifications to provide support for other people accessing treatment. ‘VIA gave me my life back, so I’m now giving back’, she said.
APPG chair Graham Morris MP opened questions and encouraged the group to campaign for action. Among the key issues was the need for independent family support that was not necessarily linked to treatment services. A vital piece of this jigsaw was represented by family services – Adfam CEO Viv Evans highlighted research that showed 5m people were adversely affected by a family member’s substance use, and in many cases this substance was alcohol.
Read previous Drugs, Alcohol & Justice APPG reports here