Lager Louts Wreak Havoc in Perth A&E

Perth News ~ Jul 5 2005

ALARMED hospital staff say Perth's drinking problem is spiralling out of control as boozed-up revellers flood into the city's casualty wards every weekend.

The Fair City drink culture has got so bad that A&E doctors claim 60% of cases they see from Thursday to Sunday involve alcohol abuse.

The news comes days after Chief Superintendent Matt Hamilton claimed that alcohol played a part in four out of five serious assaults in the city.

The top cop in Perthshire blamed the figures on a spate of new happy-hour type promotions in pubs and clubs which have seen the extension of the weekend to Thursday nights.

One fed-up senior medic even claimed his colleagues now have problems assessing the condition of potential stroke victims because of the possibility they could be fuelled-up on booze.

Dr Neil Nichol has worked as a consultant at Perth Royal Infirmary's casualty department for six years and says his staff face verbal and physical assault on a weekly basis as the culture of "drink-till-you-drop" spirals out of control.

He said: "On a Friday and Saturday night you'll see that 60 per cent of people coming to A&E have alcohol on board and undoubtedly that can lead to the situation where our staff are assaulted.

"These people can be extremely difficult to manage and often you also have to deal with hangers-on who may also be drunk.

"They don't sit down, they wander about the department and can at times be daringly aggressive.

"If someone is allowed to behave in an inappropriate way it can lead to a chain reaction with other drunks in the room.

"And all the time you're trying to see to a heart attack victim but the drunk with the head wound is also demanding your time, less deservedly so."

Dr Nichol also suggested that the rise in binge drinking effects the ability of health workers to diagnose patients.

"Our ambulance crews often have trouble differentiating between really sick people and someone who is just drunk," he added.

"There are a number of conditions where you may look drunk but in fact you're seriously ill.

"That includes things like head injuries and some varieties of stroke."

But there may be respite ahead for the Fair City's embattled doctors, nurses and cops.

New licensing laws have put the dampers on cheap drink promotions and Chief Superintendent Hamilton revealed his officers have already found success by banning repeat offenders from the city's boozers.

He warned other would-be drunkards that the force would have no qualms about slapping curfew orders on those who get out of hand after one too many.

He said: "If we have someone who is consistently drunk, causing trouble and getting arrested at night then we'd go to the procurator fiscal and seek a curfew order.

"That could also mean that the person stays away from pubs or off-licenses.

"This is a successful tool for dealing with binge drinking."