West End ‘drunk tank’ opens for Christmas

A "booze unit" has opened in the West End to tackle the growing scourge of binge drinking.

People who have drunk to excess are being taken there instead of A&E to ease pressure on hospitals. The scheme, which has just been launched before the party season, is aimed at the completely inebriated who need a place to sober up.

Drink-related calls represent six per cent of the workload for the London Ambulance Service and the figure is twice as high in the borough of Westminster.

Last year, there were 60,686 alcohol-related call-outs in London and it is estimated 40 per cent of those taken to hospital could be dealt with elsewhere. Cases for the Alcohol Recovery Centre, which opened last weekend, are picked by one of three "booze buses", ambulance designed for drunks.

The unit does not accept walk-in patients or those who have suffered an injury through alcohol.

Daniel Astaire of Westminster council, which is running the service with the LAS, said: "It's wrong that hospital beds are taken up by people because they have become so intoxicated they require medical attention."

The centre is open on Fridays and Saturdays until after the new year. It may also run mid-week at Christmas and around New Year's Eve.

Ambulance operations manager Philip Powell said: "We can treat patients who've had too much to drink in a safe, dedicated and well-equipped environment without ever having to take them to A&E."