Doctors are "missing opportunities" to help people with alcohol problems, a new report suggests.
Experts have estimated that many deaths from alcohol-related liver disease could be avoided. Researchers, who examined the detailed patient notes of 385 patients who died from alcohol-related liver disease across England Wales and Northern Ireland, found 135 cases of "missed opportunities" to help influence the patient's health outcome.
As many as 32 of the deaths could have been avoided, according to a new report from the National Confidential Enquiry into Patient Outcome and Death (NCEPOD). Only half of the cases reviewed received "good care", the report states.
Even though three-quarters had been admitted to hospital on more than one occasion, a third of patients were never referred on to alcohol support services to help them curb their drinking habits.
A quarter of people were never seen by a gastroenterologist or hepatologist while they were in hospital. Indeed, consultant hepatologists were only present in 28% of the 191 hospitals examined.
Source: Belfast Telegraph, 14/06/13
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