Alcohol nurses 'saved my life'

The nurses use breathalysers to check their patients

Specialist nurses trained to help alcoholics have been praised by one of the patients they treated.

Andrew Pacey, 53, from Bingham, Nottinghamshire, turned to alcohol when his garage repair business collapsed and he lost his home.

Doctors say he may still need a liver transplant to prolong his life.

But he says: "My outlook on life is absolutely different now - I am sure I can pick up where I left off."

'Tidal wave'

Clinical nurse Mark Holmes, who helps run the alcohol liaison service at the Queen's Medical Centre in Nottingham, says people are usually eager to accept help.

"It is becoming a bit of a tidal wave, with people being admitted to hospital with drinking problems," Mr Holmes said.

The nurses use a breathalyser test to make sure patients are telling the truth about their drinking.

In the first 18 months the nurses have seen more than 3,000 patients. They get people with drink problems to either cut down or give up booze.

ALCOHOL ADVICE one-to-one counselling patients keep a drink diary patients warned of health risks nurses use a no-nonsense approach

Mark Holmes says Mr Pacey's health has improved remarkably since he quit drinking: "It is amazing to see the improvement in his liver function considering how poorly he was at the beginning of the year."

Mr Pacey says he did not realise how serious his problem had become until he was admitted to hospital last year.

"I didn't think anything was going to happen to me - I felt indestructible."

"The last few years of my life are a blur."

Mr Pacey says the relaxation of pub drinking times were part of the problem.

"I had to realise that there was a lot left to do other than look at life through the bottom of the glass."

Down the drain

Derby County footballer Adam Murray, who is also fighting a drink problem, praised the help he received from another source - the Priory rehabilitation clinic.

The 22-year-old midfielder started binge drinking after his girlfriend suffered a miscarriage and his stepfather was diagnosed with cancer.

I was drinking every time I could - just to stay out of the real world Adam Murray Derby County footballer

After one four-day drinking binge his parents and agent urged him to get help and he checked into the Priory clinic for 28 days of treatment.

Murray says: "I can't really remember most of it as my head was a complete shambles.

"I wouldn't wish it on anybody - when I look back on it, I am really ashamed of it.

"I told my agent a few days before I went into the clinic that I didn't want to play football anymore.

"I was drinking every time I could - just to stay out of the real world."

The nurses at the QMC have noticed that victims of alcoholic abuse are getting younger - and more women are coming through the doors.

On average every month, one person aged under 40 dies from alcohol misuse at the Queen's Medical Centre.

The alcohol liaison service at the hospital was introduced as an interim measure, but the experiment has now been made permanent.