Alcohol
Alcohol policy
We recognise the damaging impact alcohol misuse can have, not just on individuals, but the public services who respond to it. Our alcohol-related harms are high in international terms. That’s why we’ve taken a range of actions to reduce the availability, attractiveness and affordability of alcohol, in line with the World Health Organization’s recommended approach.
Data and surveillance
The National Records of Scotland published the Alcohol specific deaths 2024 (September 2024).
We are working together with Public Health Scotland (PHS) to improve alcohol treatment data. In March 2024, the Alcohol Consumption and Harms Dashboard was launched, providing a high-level overview of the statistics for consumption and harms from a variety of sources
PHS’s ScotPHO website provides an up to date resource on alcohol statistics including, waiting times, hospital admissions and alcohol brief interventions.
In March 2024, PHS published the alcohol-related hospital statistics, reporting that in 2022/23 there were 31,206 alcohol-related hospital admissions (stays) in Scotland.
The Drug and Alcohol Information System (DAISy) is a national database designed to gather key demographic and outcome data on people who use alcohol/drug treatment services.
Treatment
An Alcohol Brief Intervention (ABI), is a short, evidence-based, structured conversation about alcohol consumption with a patient/client. It seeks to motivate and support the individual to think about their drinking behaviour in a non-confrontational way, in order to reduce their consumption and/or their risk of harms.
We are working with Public Health Scotland on reviewing the evidence on the current delivery of ABIs to ensure they are being carried out effectively and are as impactful as they can be in reducing the harms from alcohol.
We are supporting the UK Government on reviewing and updating the clinical guidelines for alcohol treatment. The guidance will introduce new approaches to treatment and will apply to a broad range of settings including primary care, hospital and justice settings. Development of the guidance is supported by a UK-wide expert group, which includes Scottish representatives.
Recovery
Managed Alcohol Programmes (MAPs) provide people who experience homelessness and longstanding alcohol dependency with a regular dose of alcohol, typically in a hostel/accommodation-based project.
We are exploring the evidence around MAPs and since 2021 we have contributed to the running and evaluation of the MAP in Glasgow by Simon Community Scotland.,
Harm reduction
We developed our approach to harm prevention in line with the World Health Organization’s three “best buys” to help alleviate alcohol related harms. These are to take steps to reduce the affordability, availability and attractiveness of alcohol products.
We introduced Minimum unit pricing (MUP) for alcohol in 2018, setting the minimum cost of one unit of alcohol to 50 pence.
The Scottish Parliament agreed to continue the MUP legislation beyond 30 April 2024 and to raise the level it is set at to 65 pence per unit.
We are also taking forward further action to tackle alcohol harm including considering potential restrictions on alcohol marketing and advertising following the consultation that closed in 2023.