Use of ‘drunk tanks’ considered by NHS

Simon Stevens has said that the NHS will decide whether ‘drunk tanks’ should be used routinely to release pressure on A&E departments and 999 ambulance services during the seasonal holiday period.

An estimated 15 per cent of attendances at emergency departments in the UK are due to acute alcohol intoxication, peaking on Friday and Saturday evening where as many as 70 per cent of attendances can be alcohol related.

Already used in Newcastle, Bristol, Manchester and Cardiff, NHS England has said that experiences over this coming New Year would help determine whether the schemes would be rolled out to major towns and cities during 2018.

Simon Stevens, NHS England chief executive, said: “When the health service is pulling out all the stops to care for sick and vulnerable patients who rightly and genuinely need our support, it’s frankly selfish when ambulance paramedics and A&E nurses have to be diverted to looking after revellers who have overindulged and who just need somewhere to safely to sleep it off.

“NHS doesn’t stand for ‘National Hangover Service’, but in the run up to Christmas, having been out with ambulance crews on night shifts in London and the West Midlands, I’ve seen first hand how paramedics and A&Es are being called on to deal with drunk and often aggressive people.”