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Alcohol withdrawal syndrome

Posted By orangexr97

"Alcohol withdrawal syndrome"

About: Derriford Hospital / Accident and emergency

(as a service user),

Absolutely disgraceful the way people with alcohol use disorder are treated at Derriford A&E department. Systemic stigma and discrimination. Staff have no understanding of how painful or difficult alcohol withdrawal syndrome is. I went in and triage diagnosed a broken hand. Six hour wait for consultation but staff refused to consider any medication for withdrawal whilst I waited so I had to leave before I was seen. 

Seems to be complete hit and miss whether you get help for alcohol withdrawal syndrome here - feels like it depends on if the doctors on duty stigmatise substance use or not. Alcohol care team tell you to keep drinking even with severe withdrawal symptoms and no access to alcohol. They tell you detox is unlikely (it feels like an unofficial hospital rule - deny treatment for as long as possible and hope you give up and leave) even if required as per the NICE guidelines. Staff acted like I was trying to get free ‘drugs’ rather than understanding how painful withdrawal is. 

A&E staff at this hospital desperately require education on alcohol withdrawal syndrome. 

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Responses

Response from Alison Stanton, Complaints and PALS Manager, University Hospitals Plymouth NHS Trust 2 weeks ago
Alison Stanton
Complaints and PALS Manager,
University Hospitals Plymouth NHS Trust

Submitted on 07/10/2025 at 15:10
Published on Care Opinion at 15:10

picture of Alison Stanton

Dear orangexr97

Thank you for your feedback and I am so sorry to hear about your experience.

Becky Martyn, Lead Advanced Clinical Practitioner & Clinical Governance Lead for ED, has responded to say:

I am sorry that you felt like we did not care regarding your alcohol withdrawal. As you can imagine, our ambulatory area gets very busy and we hope to see our patients within 4 hrs and discharge them home where possible. Sometimes this is not possible and recognising that patients have other symptoms unrelated to their admission is often challenging.

I cannot comment on your individual patient journey and the staff attitude you experienced as there are no personal details within your post.

However I will raise this in handovers and in our Care Group meeting feedback.

We do endeavour to complete a CIWA (clinical institute withdrawal assessment) score for patients who may be suffering with alcohol withdrawal. I am sorry if this was not done during your admission.

I am happy to discuss this further via letter or telephone if you would find this useful. If so, please contact our Patient Advice & Liaison Service (PALS) on 01752 439884, or email them at plh-tr.PALS@nhs.net to provide your personal information.

Please quote reference 83873 when getting in touch so that we can align any future contact from you with this posting.

Many thanks

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