Website of the Department of Health

DrinkCheck indicates if the amount you are drinking places you at risk of health harm. DrinkCheck will not only show if you are at risk but provide you with advice on how to cut down.

• DrinkCheck (opens new window)

Reducing hospital admissions

Reducing the rate of hospital admissions due to alcohol related harm is a new measure of performance for the NHS.  This is the first ever national commitment to monitor how the NHS is tackling alcohol harms. 

A national indicator is now in place to measure changes in the rate of hospital admissions for alcohol-related conditions.  This will encourage the NHS to identify at an earlier stage those patients who might be drinking too much, so they can get the help they need.

From autumn 2008 an Alcohol National Support Team will help Primary Care Trusts with the highest alcohol-related hospital admissions by working with these areas to drive down admissions and improve services for those at risk.

Identifying problems early

We have set-up the Trailblazers pilot scheme to identify and advise people whose drinking habits are likely to lead to ill health in future.  52 trailblazer sites at GP practices, hospitals and criminal justice settings, have been testing new ways of identifying and providing advice to harmful drinkers.

International evidence suggests that by offering advice at an early stage, as many as one in nine people will reduce their drinking to within low-risk levels.  The Department of Health will set up a collaboration of healthcare providers to share the trailblazer research from summer 2008.

We have also launched a web-based tool, Local Alcohol Profiles, showing levels of harmful drinkers by local authority areas, enabling local health authorities to identify action they need to take in their areas.

• Local Alcohol Profiles (opens new window)

Providing treatment for those that need it

The Department of Health has published best practice guidance for delivering a planned and integrated local treatment system for alcohol misuse.  You can find this guidance in our publication Models of care for alcohol misusers (see link below).

We have also published guidance on developing local programmes for screening and brief interventions of hazardous and harmful drinkers, together with guidance on treatment for dependent drinkers.  You can find this guidance in our publication Alcohol Misuse Interventions: Guidance on developing a local programme of improvement.

• Alcohol Misuse Interventions: Guidance on developing a local programme of improvement
• Models of care for alcohol misusers (MoCAM)

In Spring 2008, the Department of Health launched the National Alcohol Treatment Monitoring System, the first ever national system for monitoring the number of people receiving treatment for alcohol misuse. This will help Government and health services to identify local areas where additional treatment services are needed.