New liaison nurse service

Andrea Judge is advising staff at Craigavon Area Hospital in identifying and caring for patients with alcohol related issues and ensuring that those patients and their families get the specialist support they need.

The post which is funded for three years is the first of its kind in Northern Ireland to support general hospital staff in dealing specifically with alcohol related issues.

Kieran Devlin, Southern Trust Impact of Alcohol Portfolio Manager, said: “Increased alcohol consumption has led to a year on year increase in alcohol related hospital admissions in Northern Ireland, costing the health service millions of pounds.

“We hope that through this post that we will be able to offer more direct and specialised support to help patients .

The Alcohol Liaison Nurse is one of eight Impact of Alcohol projects across Southern Trust acute and community services.

Andrea will be working with acute services staff, addiction services staff and fast tracking patients to appropriate community services to address the patients’ lifestyle and behaviour and hopefully prevent future alcohol related hospital readmissions.