News
Young Drinkers Need More Help, Say Campaigners
06 April 2011
Every Friday and Saturday night brings the same scene in the A&E unit of the Royal Sussex county hospital in Brighton: a handful of teenage drunks who need attention. "We get about five, six or seven under-18s a week who are there because of alcohol. They can turn up at any time from eight in the evening to two in the morning. Most are 16 or 17, but we've had some as young as 11. There are equal numbers of boys and girls. They usually come at weekends or at or just after exam time," explains Alison Jenkins, one of the hospital trust's two paediatric liaison specialist nurses.