Health & Family

Drunk in power

FORa Private Eye journalist, Partygate is the gift that keeps on giving. The Metropolitan Police are dragging the drama out as long as they can, with just a couple of the 12 allegedly “non-essential” lockdown gatherings in Whitehall processed so far. What stands out most is not just that the Prime Minister and Chancellor both broke the law (and have chosen not to resign), nor that Boris Johnson likely has more breakages to pay for and seemingly lied to Parliament.

It is that when the Met finally conclude their investigations, hundreds of apparently intelligent Whitehall employees will also receive Fixed Penalty Notices. Were they simply playing follow the leader, was there guidance (published or otherwise) to state that work-place socialising was legal or did they just not believe the laws they had made would be applied to them?

The law so many have broken was deceptively simple. All faceto-face work meetings during lockdown had to be “essential for work purposes.” For Johnson to get off the hook over lying to Parliament, he has to argue that he believes work-place birthday celebrations, Christmas quizzes, wine-time Fridays, multiple leaving dos, impromptu late-night discos and pre-planned bring-abottle garden gatherings were “essential” to the proper functioning of his government.

The common denominator in all of these gatherings was alcohol. Whitehall employees have high rates of alcoholdependence, driven by the belief of some that alcohol is indeed essential to the art of politics, to forge alliances, cope with stress and lubricate the decision-making processes.

It also explains why politicians make such dreadful laws. As journalist Isabel Hardman observes in her book Why We Get The Wrong MPs: “Alcohol laps around Westminster every day from lunchtime until the close of play. Once the restaurants have emptied of their guests, the Commons reception rooms start to fill up with MPs attending a launch for one thing or another – and with more glasses of wine. Even if MPs aren’t drinking until obvious drunkenness, most of them are able to put a fair bit away.”

For too many in Whitehall, alcohol is self-medication. In 2012, Commons doctor Ira Madan told a staff meeting that she was concerned about the proportion of MPs she had seen with alcoholrelated problems. An Alcohol Concern survey of 150 MPs in 2013 found that 26 per cent felt there was too much drinking in Parliament.

The sudden and lasting nature of the pandemic lead to unprecedented stress and uncertainty, with harmful drinking up across the country and almost certainly in Whitehall.

And when you’re dependent on alcohol, and alcohol is widely available in the work-place, you tend not to draw distinctions

between whether the gathering you are part of is primarily for “work” or “social” purposes. Photos will doubtless emerge depicting lockdown in Whitehall as one big “taking the piss” pissup. Who could possibly defend this? Step forward MP Michael Fabricant, who tried to argue that he knew of doctors and nurses who also drank together at work at the By DrPHIL end of a long lockdown shift, to cope with the enormous stress HAMMOND they were under. If the pandemic had happened 40 years ago, he might have been telling the truth. When I trained, you could go to the doctors’ mess or medical school bar when you were on duty, or be on call from a local pub – and it was not unusual for the anaesthetist or surgeon to be called in for an emergency whiffing of alcohol. It was seen as a legitimate way to cope with the long hours and stress of the job. In his autobiography Fragile Lives, the heart surgeon Steven Westaby recounts being called in from the pub to assist in the emergency repair of an aortic tear. His main concern was not that he had been drinking, but that they he would have to leave the operating table for a pee. So he put a “sheath catheter” on himself, fed the tube into his surgical boot, cut and squelched away. This culture of “doctors are a breed apart” and “normal rules don’t apply” took a hammering when – in 1996 – the BMA declared that 13,000 UK doctors might be addicted to alcohol or drugs. If each made – say – 2,000 vital clinical decisions a year, that was 26 million decisions made each year by addicted doctors. After a fatal accident inquiry at which it was alleged a consultant surgeon operated under the influence of alcohol, there were calls to breathalyse surgeons, alongside airline pilots and train drivers. The days of drinking alcohol socially on NHS premises vanished, as in other safety-critical professions and industries except politics – where drinking while working is not only tolerated but also encouraged. It’s time to sober up.

Dr Phil is at the Wedmore Festival on May 7th, the Hen and Chicken Bedminster on July 21st, Widcombe Social Club, Bath July 22nd and the Edinburgh Fringe August 13-27th.

B&NES Village Agents scheme expands

THEconcept of Village Agents is simple – people in rural areas should have equal access to information, advice and services to those living in the busier towns and cities.

In theory, the internet should have levelled many of those inconsistencies, but organisers say the reality is very different and with more services moving online, the gaps are going in the wrong direction.

Village Agents meet people face to face, have confidential conversations and together consider suggestions and solutions. The West of England Rural Network’s Village Agent service is now 12 years old and from January they have been funded to spread beyond the Chew, Cam and Somer Valleys.

Project manager, Denise Perrin, said: “I remember people telling me in 2010 that country people just got on with life, they managed somehow and never expected anyone else to solve a problem or step up to help them. Then we explained that they were as entitled as anyone else and had already paid for services they were not receiving.

“That usually got them thinking, but it still took a while to reassure people and gain their trust enough to ask for help and accept support.”

Like turning a supertanker, she says it took time and many hundreds of people have benefitted: “The last 12 years has been a journey of constantly pushing to expand into other areas and at last it is happening.”

Two years of new funding has been granted by the council and very soon, all rural areas of Bath and North East Somerset will have a Village Agent to call upon. One of the new recruits to the team is Kate Stobie who is relishing her new job.

She said: “My role is to enable people to find solutions to issues they may have, be they financial, housing, health, or social isolation, by actively referring or signposting them to existing services and also by spotting gaps in service provision.”

Her area of focus is Peasedown St John, Camerton, Dunkerton and Shoscombe and she has started by meeting with community leaders and organisations to forge meaningful links and referral pathways.

Kate added: “I have been overwhelmed at the positive response I have received and am looking forward to working throughout the Peasedown area to assist clients in improving their quality of life and maintaining their independence.”

You will be able to meet Kate and other members of the Village Agent Team at a public event on Friday, June 24th at The Hive Community Centre in the centre of Peasedown St John.

Alongside them will be some of the professionals with whom they work: Age UK, Sirona Telecare, the Stroke Association, the Carers’ Centre, Curo Independent Living, the Centre for Sustainable Energy’s advisors, B&NES Library Services and many more.

The event features a driving awareness and confidence boosting seminar called Route 60+. Delivered by the driving experts of Somerset Road Safety, it’s a chance to gain tips and reassurance for car drivers over 60 years old.

Doors open at 10am for browsing with the seminar at 11.15am. This is a free event so go along and enjoy meeting life changing people.

New Village Agent Kate Stobie