A LEADING surgeon has called on the Scottish executive to tackle alcohol abuse by limiting pub customers to three drinks.

John Smith, president of the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh, believes restrictions on alcohol — which kills more people in Scotland per head than in any other western European country — is the next logical step to improve the nation’s health after a ban on smoking in public places comes into force in March.

Similar restrictions are already imposed in some parts of America. Santa Monica, part of Los Angeles, has powers to impose a three-drink ban in bars and voluntary schemes operate in Virginia, Oregon and Massachusetts.

Smith believes regulations in Scotland could save lives, cut alcohol-related illnesses and reduce violent crime.

“The legislation to ban smoking in public places is very welcome and it is a major step forward. The logical thing to recognise now is that smoking is very bad for you, but so is alcohol,” he said.

“Should we now limit the amount of drinks that can be served in pubs? If, as a nation, we are serious about trying to prevent illnesses associated with social habits, this is something that must be considered seriously.

“We need to start a national debate on this issue and then, if the debate is carried, the government needs to look at practical ways in which limits, in terms of alcohol consumption, could be implemented.”

Scotland has a higher death rate from chronic liver disease and cirrhosis than any other country in western Europe, according to the World Health Organisation. The 25 deaths per 100,000 people is almost five times the figure in Ireland and more than double the rate in England and Wales.

Each year there are almost 2,000 alcohol-related deaths in Scotland and about 10% of admissions to accident and emergency departments involve alcohol abuse. Binge drinking is estimated to cost the Scottish economy more than £1 billion a year.

Last week the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (Nice), which advises the government on the cost effectiveness of treatment, said that some patients who drink heavily should be denied National Health Service care.

Government guidelines recommend that men should drink no more than four units per day — equivalent to two pints of beer, four glasses of wine or four pub measures of spirit. Women are advised to drink no more than three units.

Smith, who hopes his views will become the official policy of the college of surgeons, said: “I realise that not everyone is likely to agree with this and there will be those who will claim it would be another example of a nanny state.

“I also realise that the implications commercially for all the hotels and publicans would be huge because we all know that they make a lot of their money through mark-up on drink, but it is the logical follow-up to banning smoking in pubs and other public places. As a wine lover, I would be prepared to lead by example.”

Professor Roger Williams, the consultant surgeon who operated on George Best, the footballer, said he supported the principle of Smith’s comments. “I am in favour of anything that will restrict the availability of alcohol to people, thereby the amount that they drink,” he said. “I would doubt that it is a practical measure, but it reinforces the need to restrict alcohol, rather than make it more freely available.”

Professor Ian Gilmore, chairman of the Royal College of Physicians’ alcohol committee, said: “Not allowing people to drink more than three drinks in a pub is a wonderful solution if it were practical. We desperately need to look at ways we can change our culture.”

Paul Waterson of the Scottish Licensed Trade Association said the three-drink limit would be unworkable: “Some of the medical profession lack a bit of common sense when it comes to dealing with the real world.”

Nanette Milne, a health spokeswoman for the Scottish Tories, said: “People eat too much, drink too much, they smoke, they don’t do enough exercise and you have to let them get on with their lives.”

LANDMARK CASE

THE NHS is expected to announce this week that it will not appeal to the Court of Session against a landmark freedom-of-information ruling, forcing it to publish the death rates of every surgeon in Scotland.

Officials will acknowledge they were wrong to refuse to publish the data and they will not challenge the judgment by Kevin Dunion, the Scottish Information Commissioner, which followed a request for the information from The Sunday Times.

Although they were given 42 days to mount a legal challenge, they have conceded that to do so would “send out the wrong message” and have revealed that the statistics are being prepared for release.

Despite initial reservations, most doctors now back The Sunday Times’ campaign.

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