Alcohol-related hospital admissions in England continue to rise, with estimates that 10% of patients admitted to acute hospitals may be alcohol dependent.
The NHS long-term plan has invested £26 million to ‘optimise’ Alcohol Care Teams (ACTs) through the development of existing services and the establishment of new teams in 25% of hospitals in greatest need by 2024.
The need to develop the evidence base for the effectiveness of hospital-based ACTs has been recognised by the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) which has agreed £1.8Million to fund ProACTIVE – Programme of Research for Alcohol Care Teams: Impact, Value and Effectiveness.
Led by Professor Julia Sinclair, Professor of Addiction Psychiatry within Medicine at the University of Southampton with Professor Thomas Phillips, Professor of Nursing (Addictions) at the University of Hull, this three-year research programme brings together a highly experienced research consortium from the universities of Keele, Kent, King’s College London, Sheffield and Newcastle, and an independent Public Co-applicant.
ProACTIVE aims to deliver a multi-disciplinary, integrated, mixed-methods study designed to evaluate the impact of ACTs.
Professor Sinclair, Professor of Addiction Psychiatry within Medicine at the University of Southampton, said: “This is a great opportunity to build research capacity and improve outcomes for patients who are poorly served in our current system.”
Central to the programme is the development of an ACT network to co-produce evidence and tools with patients, policy makers and commissioners about the best use of NHS funds in this area.
We are seeking to recruit research staff to support the delivery of this research. Initial appointments will be advertised on www.jobs.ac.uk, University of Southampton and University of Hull vacancy pages, including a Research Fellow (Southampton), Research Fellow/Trial Manager (Hull), research assistants, and a Personal and Public Involvement (PPI) Co-ordinator (Southampton).
For more information contact: Julia Sinclair Julia.Sinclair@soton.ac.uk