Crack down on Binge Drinkers - A&E boss demands

Good !
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-30614864

Police should crack down on binge drinking to stop hospital staff becoming distracted by disorderly drunks, a leading doctor has said.

Dr Clifford Mann, president of the College of Emergency Medicine, said a "softer approach" adopted by police "doesn't seem to be working".

A&E staff have to deal with disorderly patients on a "daily" basis, he added.

Dr Mann said police could deal with anti-social drunkenness with increased arrests, convictions and fines.

Speaking to the BBC, Dr Mann said intoxicated patients could be arrested for being drunk and disorderly if they cause problems in hospitals.

"All I am saying at the moment is the softer approach - where we don't any longer arrest many people for being drunk and disorderly - certainly doesn't seem to be working," he said.

Dr Mann said the number of people arriving at A&E units while drunk was increasing year on year, while the number of licensed premises in the UK was also increasing and alcohol was getting cheaper.

"I think these people, by the nature of the disorder, they are distracting medical and nursing staff from looking after other patients and therefore are wasting public resources.

"I think they therefore fall into the category of being drunk and disorderly in their behaviour and the police can act to take them away," he added.

'Too simplistic'
In a separate interview with the Observer, Dr Mann said that if more people knew that if they got drunk they would be arrested, then fewer would drink too much in the first place.

There is "far too much acceptance" that drunkenness is "normal for a Friday or Saturday night", he said, adding: "It's not normal. It shouldn't be normal."

A&E
Responding to Dr Mann, the Police Federation of England and Wales told the Observer the suggestion was "simplistic" and would lead to an unrealistic drain on police time.

"Forces up and down the country regularly have campaigns to tackle drunk and disorderly behaviour," the chairman of the Police Federation - which represents rank and file officers - Steve White said.

"Alcohol is well known to be a contributory factor in incidents of disorder but it is a complex issue and a crackdown on troublesome drunks is too simplistic an answer," he added.

He said "hauling people through the courts isn't always the answer either".

"That takes valuable time and resources to process, not just for the police, but also as people go through the courts and criminal justice system."