Issue - items at meetings - Alcohol Related Hospital Admissions

Report of the Director of Strategy and Governance on the issue of Alcohol-Related Hospital Admissions. This item will be introduced by Dr Tom Scanlon, Brighton & Hove Director of Public Health (copy attached)

73.1    This item was introduced by Dr Tom Scanlon, Director of Public Health, Brighton & Hove.

73.2    Members discussed this issue with officers from NHS trusts and the council. Members agreed that this was an important issue and one which warranted in-depth investigation via a scrutiny panel. The Director of Public Health and the Chief Executive of NHS Brighton & Hove both supported the formation of such a panel.

73.3    Members noted that issues relevant to alcohol related hospital admissions are by no means exclusive to health scrutiny, but potentially cut across many areas of the council’s activity. For this reason it was agreed that this issue should be referred to the Overview & Scrutiny Commission (OSC), with the HOSC advising that the OSC should consider establishing a Select Committee to investigate this issue.

73.4    RESOLVED – That the Overview & Scrutiny Commission should be asked to consider whether to establish a Select Committee of members to investigate the issue of rising alcohol-related hospital admissions in the city.