A&E staff to train in tackling alcohol abuse

MEDICS working on the frontline are planning to tackle the country’s growing alcohol problem head-on.

Staff working in hospital accident and emergency departments will be trained, under a new nationwide initiative launched in Cork, to raise the issue of alcohol abuse with patients they are concerned about who arrive in A&E under the influence.

Alcohol consumption in Ireland has rocketed by 17% over the past decade — from 11.5 litres per adult in 1995 to 13.4 litres in 2006 — well above the EU average.