Bid to rid A&Es of drink scourge

DOCTORS have been given guidelines to help rid hospital wards and A&E departments of patients with alcohol problems.

The guidelines have been drawn up by Dr John Sheehan, consultant psychiatrist at the Mater Misericordiae Hospital in Dublin, who found that up to 40% of in-patients meet diagnostic criteria for alcohol misuse and dependency.

Almost one in four attending A&E are there either directly or indirectly as a result of alcohol.