|
||||||||
NHS turning into 'national hangover service', health chief warns |
![]() |
|
|
Thread Tools | Search this Thread |
|
|
#26 |
|
Forum Member
Join Date: Oct 2012
Posts: 7,682
|
Quote:
It might cover the cost of treating liver damage, heart problems and other alcohol related health disease. I doubt it covers the cost of treating hangovers and people who turn expecting treatment should be charged.
The other after-effects are things like passing out in the street, needing your stomach pumped, getting injured while intoxicated, so although a hangover is usually what we consider to be the headache and queasiness felt after a night on the sauce, I don't think people are popping to A&E to get a couple of paracetamol!! The last thing anyone wants to do while feeling the effects of a hangover is go to A&E and wait hours only to be told to go home and get some sleep, so shoehorning the word 'hangover' into an article about more serious alcohol-related incidents is trivialising things somewhat. |
|
|
|
|
Please sign in or register to remove this advertisement.
|
|
|
#27 |
|
Forum Member
Join Date: Feb 2011
Location: Another time, another place..
Posts: 24,629
|
Leave them. If your stupid enough to get so drunk you can't stand on your own head be it. Why should emergency services waste time and effort helping some plastered idiot when they might be missing out on a real emergency for someone who genuinely needs help by doing so? Getting drunk isn't an emergency it's a choice, a choice of the person who chooses to throw copious amounts of alcohol down their throat so let them sort it out themselves. If there's nobody to pick up the pieces perhaps people would think more carefully about their choices and actions. As for not being able to afford to be fined, if they can afford to throw money away to drink themselves silly they can damn well cough up for a fine. I'd make it £1000 on the spot, doubled every time if they have to see to the same person for the same reason again.
|
|
|
|
|
|
#28 |
|
Forum Member
Join Date: May 2012
Posts: 21,720
|
Quote:
Leave them. If your stupid enough to get so drunk you can't stand on your own head be it. Why should emergency services waste time and effort helping some plastered idiot when they might be missing out on a real emergency for someone who genuinely needs help by doing so? Getting drunk isn't an emergency it's a choice, a choice of the person who chooses to throw copious amounts of alcohol down their throat so let them sort it out themselves. If there's nobody to pick up the pieces perhaps people would think more carefully about their choices and actions. As for not being able to afford to be fined, if they can afford to throw money away to drink themselves silly they can damn well cough up for a fine. I'd make it £1000 on the spot, doubled every time if they have to see to the same person for the same reason again.
|
|
|
|
|
|
#29 |
|
Forum Member
Join Date: Jul 2004
Posts: 10,776
|
Quote:
They weren't drunk on this scale and certainly didn't have such amount of booze that is available today. Booze is an obsession in this country. They're proud of it and it appears to be the follow the herd mentality. Don't want to be left out.
|
|
|
|
|
|
#30 |
|
Forum Member
Join Date: Jul 2006
Posts: 7,364
|
Seperate "drunk tank" facilities staffed by medics, where ambulances and police can quickly drop drunks off to sober up, which then frees them up to attend real emergencies.
Additional ideas could be that they can't be "released" from the drunk tank without paying a fee first. |
|
|
|
|
|
#31 |
|
Forum Member
Join Date: Sep 2015
Posts: 323
|
More nanny state meddling. The vast majority of people who go out socialising drink responsibly and do themselves and others no harm whatsoever, but sadly we have a media that likes to print pictures of the handful of people who've had too much and use this as evidence for a mythical binge drinking culture.
As others have said, alcohol consumption is falling, particularly amongst the young. Simon Stevens should stick to his job and stop moralising and scaremongering. |
|
|
|
|
|
#32 |
|
Forum Member
Join Date: Oct 2012
Posts: 7,682
|
Quote:
Leave them. If your stupid enough to get so drunk you can't stand on your own head be it. Why should emergency services waste time and effort helping some plastered idiot when they might be missing out on a real emergency for someone who genuinely needs help by doing so? Getting drunk isn't an emergency it's a choice, a choice of the person who chooses to throw copious amounts of alcohol down their throat so let them sort it out themselves. If there's nobody to pick up the pieces perhaps people would think more carefully about their choices and actions. As for not being able to afford to be fined, if they can afford to throw money away to drink themselves silly they can damn well cough up for a fine. I'd make it £1000 on the spot, doubled every time if they have to see to the same person for the same reason again.
Let's assume there's even the slightest bit of legitimacy about your post. Just off the top of my head, I have a few points: 1) These real emergencies where someone genuinely needs help, is there a vetting process for these too? So for example, person run over by a joy rider IS genuine, whereas the joy rider who later crashed their car ISN'T because it was their choice to drive recklessly? 2) When folk get drunk to the point of needed to call on the emergency services, they're passed the point of caring about things like fines or wasting emergency services' time, so any punishments/penalties won't be considered until after the event. 3) No-one carries £1,000 on them on a night out, cash points don't allow you to withdraw £1,000, and not too many people would have £1,000 available in the first place. 4) Who will process this fine/penalty - the paramedics? Does this mean they'll wait around while the incredibly drunk person searches for their bank card, finds a cash point, makes the payment, gets a receipt, provides ID for their records because obviously the next time they're picked up they have to fork out £2,000. You really haven't thought this through have you. |
|
|
|
|
|
#33 |
|
Forum Member
Join Date: Oct 2012
Posts: 7,682
|
Quote:
Seperate "drunk tank" facilities staffed by medics, where ambulances and police can quickly drop drunks off to sober up, which then frees them up to attend real emergencies.
Additional ideas could be that they can't be "released" from the drunk tank without paying a fee first. |
|
|
|
|
|
#34 |
|
Forum Member
Join Date: Feb 2011
Posts: 25,196
|
Quote:
Seperate "drunk tank" facilities staffed by medics, where ambulances and police can quickly drop drunks off to sober up, which then frees them up to attend real emergencies.
Additional ideas could be that they can't be "released" from the drunk tank without paying a fee first. |
|
|
|
|
|
#35 |
|
Forum Member
Join Date: Dec 2008
Location: Dewsbury, England
Posts: 8,683
|
NHS England could also save money by paying the chief executive and others on six figure salaries less.
If you accept the legalisation of alcohol, you should also accept all of the consequences, including drunks turning up to A&E and battering nurses. In many cases they will probably have been to A&E more than once. The answer isn't to charge them, but to jail them for several years and restrict the availability of alcohol so that it has to be paid for using debit cards, and separately to all other items. This way businesses that sell alcohol to people who commit crime while intoxicated by it can be banned from selling alcohol to anybody in any of their branches. Businesses that are so responsible about who they sell alcohol to, that they can be certain none of their customers get drunk and end up in A&E where they beat up the nurses, will have any reason to object as they will not be affected by such legislation. |
|
|
|
|
|
#36 |
|
Forum Member
Join Date: Jul 2006
Posts: 7,364
|
Quote:
And what if they have no money, do you keep them there for ever ?
Alternatively, take their details from their IDs and bill them with a proper fine, payable within 14 days etc like a parking fine. |
|
|
|
|
|
#37 |
|
Forum Member
Join Date: Sep 2012
Location: Milton Keynes
Posts: 3,078
|
Maybe private hospitals are missing a chance here. If drunks were automatically dropped off at an annex in a private facility, then they could be charged accordingly. Failure to pay would be pursued like any other debt. The knowledge that NHS facilities would not be open to them might discourage people from drinking themselves into a state of unconsciousness. It is disgusting if you genuinely need emergency healthcare to find yourself having to share a waiting room full of p!ssed up people.
|
|
|
|
|
|
#38 |
|
Forum Member
Join Date: Feb 2011
Posts: 25,196
|
Quote:
If they can afford to get blotter on a night out then they should have money to get themselves out of the drunk tanks, or call a relative etc.
Alternatively, take their details from their IDs and bill them with a proper fine, payable within 14 days etc like a parking fine. |
|
|
|
|
|
#39 |
|
Forum Member
Join Date: Nov 2016
Posts: 615
|
Quote:
I agree with taking details and sending a bill, but if a person is 18 years old, what they get up to is nothing to do and not the persons relatives problem is it nothing to do with them.
The NHS has enough problems trying to collect the costs from overseas visitors who use their services. To add collecting fines from drinking connected treatment would be an impossible admin burden This is why I suggested the easiest option in my OP, just wack the tax on alcohol up and collect at source. Alcohol is now so cheap in supermarkets the added cost would be negligible |
|
|
|
|
|
#40 |
|
Forum Member
Join Date: May 2011
Location: 🖥⌨🖱
Posts: 29,238
|
I believe minimum unit pricing for alcohol was passed in Scotland but it hasn't been implemented yet due to legal challenges.
Prevention is much better than cure so that seems to me to be the way forward. Alcohol is considerably cheaper now than when I started drinking around the turn of the 80s. |
|
|
|
|
#41 |
|
Forum Member
Join Date: Feb 2011
Posts: 25,196
|
Quote:
The NHS has enough problems trying to collect the costs from overseas visitors who use their services. To add collecting fines from drinking connected treatment would be an impossible admin burden
This is why I suggested the easiest option in my OP, just wack the tax on alcohol up and collect at source. Alcohol is now so cheap in supermarkets the added cost would be negligible |
|
|
|
|
|
#42 |
|
Forum Member
Join Date: Jul 2006
Posts: 7,364
|
Quote:
I agree with taking details and sending a bill, but if a person is 18 years old, what they get up to is nothing to do and not the persons relatives problem is it nothing to do with them.
|
|
|
|
|
|
#43 |
|
Forum Member
Join Date: Jul 2006
Posts: 7,364
|
Quote:
The NHS has enough problems trying to collect the costs from overseas visitors who use their services. To add collecting fines from drinking connected treatment would be an impossible admin burden
This is why I suggested the easiest option in my OP, just wack the tax on alcohol up and collect at source. Alcohol is now so cheap in supermarkets the added cost would be negligible |
|
|
|
|
|
#44 |
|
Forum Member
Join Date: Sep 2009
Posts: 3,120
|
They should have a special permanently inebriated doctor to treat drunk patients. Give the blighters a taste of their own medicine, what?
|
|
|
|
|
|
#45 |
|
Forum Member
Join Date: Feb 2011
Posts: 25,196
|
Quote:
I was thinking more along the lines of "getting anyone to bail them out", not just relatives as it were.
|
|
|
|
|
|
#46 |
|
Forum Member
Join Date: Mar 2004
Posts: 1,037
|
Quote:
I couldn't disagree more - there are so may issues with trying to charge people - how do you propose to get the money from them?
Is it at the point of use of the service or afterwards? Who would collect the money? What about people that can't pay - should they not be treated? What about drug users - should they also be charged? And people who put themselves in danger by doing irresponsible things e.g. getting hypothermia from going up a mountain against weather warnings? People who drive badly and cause RTA? Send it via post like a parking ticket or an on the spot fine, it doesn't really matter. Same as any other fine, pay up or else debt recovery will come a-knocking. Let the magistrates decide, same as any other offence. Ditto Maybe. Why not? Drivers already get off lightly as it is. |
|
|
|
|
|
#47 |
|
Forum Member
Join Date: Jul 2006
Posts: 7,364
|
Quote:
Why it up to them to get themselves out, its not up to anyone else either a relatives or friends.
My answer is along the same lines of those who get thrown in jail in America, they call anyone to "bail them out". At the end of the day, if they want to get released and don't have money on them then they can try and get someone to help them out, if not then they get billed. |
|
|
|
|
|
#48 |
|
Forum Member
Join Date: Feb 2011
Posts: 25,196
|
Quote:
Your question was "what if they didn't have any money"?
My answer is along the same lines of those who get thrown in jail in America, they call anyone to "bail them out". At the end of the day, if they want to get released and don't have money on them then they can try and get someone to help them out, if not then they get billed. |
|
|
|
|
|
#49 |
|
Forum Member
Join Date: May 2009
Location: Devon
Posts: 12,829
|
Simon Stevens should be lobbying the Government for extra resources and not attacking his customers.
If he wants to continue to be a moralising arse, he might also care to look at the costs of obesity and its consequences |
|
|
|
|
|
#50 |
|
Forum Member
Join Date: May 2012
Posts: 21,720
|
Quote:
Seperate "drunk tank" facilities staffed by medics, where ambulances and police can quickly drop drunks off to sober up, which then frees them up to attend real emergencies.
Additional ideas could be that they can't be "released" from the drunk tank without paying a fee first. At what point do you become drunk and have to pay as well? |
|
|
|
![]() |
|
All times are GMT. The time now is 08:23.




