
Historically, the UK has been a relatively moderate consumer of alcohol compared with other Western European countries. The heaviest drinking countries used to be the wine producers: France, for example, had one of the highest known levels of alcohol consumption in the world, and one of the highest levels of alcoholism for many years.
Whereas, however, in recent years, alcohol consumption has stabilised or fallen in France and most of the rest of the world, it continued to rise in the UK; which is now one of the heaviest alcohol consuming countries in the world. This is a problems that brings with it a whole heap of consequences: from adolescents admitted to hospital for binge-drinking induced alcohol poisoning, to adults struggling with an addiction that has turned their life into a constant battle with the craving for a drink. But alcohol consumption also takes its toll on business, and on the economy. The output loss to the UK economy as a result of alcohol problems is estimated at up to £6.4bn. A survey carried out in December 2007 for Norwich Union Healthcare found that a third of employees admitted to having been to work with a hangover, and 15 per cent reported having been drunk at work. One in twenty employees reported hangovers at work once a week.Boss, I have a problem
The theme of this year’s Alcohol Awareness Week (which runs from 19-25 November) is, “It’s time to talk about drinking.” Apparently, that’s something we’re used to in everyday life. In the average community, at the pharmacy or by their GP, UK residents even expect to be asked about their alcohol consumption. “People expect to be asked about their alcohol consumption, and they don’t take that as an offence. So, people are much more open now – which creates more opportunities to help. But are they honest about it? That depends on who is asking. If it was an employer, they probably wouldn’t be,” Dr Joss Bray told Real Business. Dr Bray is the medical director for addictions at the Huntercombe Group, a large group of independent specialist hospitals around the country, that offer detox treatments and rehab services. In his career as a substance abuse specialist Dr Bray has been involved in developing the national guidelines for alcohol treatment, wrote the curriculum for training GPs in drug and alcohol problems, and treated plenty of patients struggling with addiction, from every class and every age group. What he hasn’t seen yet is an involvement from business leaders in supporting the treatment of employees with substance abuse problems. We asked him whether he would like to see that change.Share this story