Services that Manage the Care Needs of Drunk - Scottish Government

was estimated that the service saved a total of 360 hours of emergency
department time. In financial terms, this represented an estimated £14,445 in
doctor costs alone. In addition, the Wales Ambulance Service Trust estimated
that the triage and transport arrangements that comprised the MMRU saved
the trust £25,000 in its first year of operation, largely because of the ability to
retain patients geographically in the city centre. This saved on transport time,
and time spent by staff having to wait at the hospital to transfer patients to the
emergency department.
4.36 The costs of delivering the service were able to be kept very low because
much of the cost was borne directly by the agencies involved in planning and
delivering the service. For example:
• The Millennium Stadium treatment centre was provided to the partnership
free of charge
• The cost of the MMRU paramedic vehicle and support vehicle was met by
the Ambulance Trust, and since the MMRU relieved other ambulance
vehicles of a large proportion of city centre work, this was seen as a neutral
cost
• The cost of medical supplies and sustenance for volunteers and staff was
met by the NHS Trust
• A donation was made to the St John Ambulance Service of £300 each time
the MMRU operated, for the vehicles they provide and the three volunteers;
and a further donation of £500 each time the temporary treatment centre
operated, for the medical volunteers (doctors, nurse practitioners and firstaiders)
that the charity provided.
4.37 In its first year, the direct costs of the service on each occasion of operation
were £310.05 for the MMRU (total £5,271 for 17 occasions), and £1,044 for
the treatment centre (£8,352 for eight occasions). These costs do not include
the costs of nursing staff or policing, which was available on some, but not all
occasions.
Other mobile services
4.38 Like the MMRU, SOS buses provide immediate assistance to people who may
be intoxicated, distressed or have minor injuries. 124 They offer first-aid
(including, in some cases, social and emotional first-aid), and a place of safety
for people until they are able to be taken home by a family member, friend or
taxi.
4.39 There are SOS buses in Norwich (since 2000), Weston-Super-Mare (since
2005), Southend-on-Sea (since 2006) and Belfast (since 2007). In every city,
the bus project is a multi-agency initiative involving the local authority, police,
St John Ambulance, the local community, churches and charitable agencies.
124
All the data on SOS buses is taken from a single review carried out on behalf of Lothian & Borders
Police: Symington & Robbie, 2008, pp. 24-38.
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