Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps his Department is taking to support children and families who are affected by alcohol abuse or harm.

Data on children attending accident and emergency (A&E) departments as a result of alcohol-related harm is not collected centrally. However data is available on alcohol-related hospital admissions with figures for under-18s shown in the table below.

Under 18s alcohol-related hospital admissions

Public Health England (PHE) is engaged in a work programme which aims to reduce alcohol-related harm to individuals, families and society. PHE works closely with local authorities to support their work of assessing local alcohol-related need and commissioning services and support to meet that need, including identification and brief advice, alcohol treatment and helping ensure that young people’s substance misuse services target vulnerable young people.

PHE has published guidance[1] to improve support for young people in A&E with alcohol related problems. It is aimed at A&E clinicians, hospital managers, substance misuse and young people’s commissioners and includes a set of key questions for professionals to help develop care pathways within A&E and into other services for young people.

PHE is working on a report on the harm to others from alcohol in collaboration with Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. This report will look at the impact of alcohol on others, including parental alcohol misuse, as the consequences of drinking which go beyond the individual drinker. It is due to published in 2016.

[1] http://www.nta.nhs.uk/uploads/young-peoples-hospital-alcohol-pathways-support-pack-for-ae-departments.pdf