Are you at risk from drinking?

Duty consultant Andrew Simpson told us: "It's not particularly nice having someone vomit over you and be abusive. Most staff have worked here a long time. You get used to it after a while.

"To some extent, the general public would be quite shocked at the behaviour of some of the patients coming in. In fact, the patients would be shocked at their own behaviour after they've had a drink. We often hear the phrase - 'he isn't normally like this doctor'."

Sure enough, a short while later a young man is brought in by police to have a head injury checked out. He's been in a fight outside a nightclub. He has no shirt, he's covered in blood and he's very angry. It is incredible to see at first hand the patience of the staff who are trying to help him. A senior nurse spends over an hour attending to him and trying to calm him down.

The two police officers who arrested him must stay too. Every time they approach his bed to ask questions he screams: "Get them out, get them out". They are given a cup of tea while they wait for his X-ray results - which finally confirm he is well enough to leave.

One of them tells me: "A lot of people were out for a drink enjoying themselves tonight. But we were confronted by two violent males and we had to step in. This sort of thing happens all the time unfortunately. We could be out on more worthwhile incidents. Drink-related ones take up a lot of police time, but they have to be dealt with."

Eventually the father of the girl who was in a coma arrives to collect her. He tells me this is the second time this has happened. "Last time we grounded her for a few weeks. It's going to happen again. I'm not letting up on her - you can't. But drink is out there on the streets and there's nothing you can do to protect them. A lot of the problem is peer pressure."

Here at Hartlepool General, they have the only alcohol and drug counselling service linked to a casualty unit in the country. Nurses and doctors spot patients who they think may have a problem and ask them if they would like to be referred to a counsellor or simply receive some leaflets. Friday nights often result in most referrals.

In the last year alone, 42 under 16-year-olds have said yes in the North Tees area. These are youngsters who would otherwise not be reached, says Nigel Morris from the Primary Alcohol and Drugs Service (PADS) .

"These are individuals who have never used our services or been aware that they need help. We've been able to educate them about alcohol and how it affects them," he says

The scheme is so successful that at a recent conference on drinking problems organised by the pressure group Alcohol Concern, Nigel was inundated with requests from hospital staff about how they could set up a similar scheme.

At 10pm the 15-year-old girl is considered well enough to go home. She's too drunk to walk though and a nurse pushes her out to her dad's car in a wheelchair. "Tomorrow she's in big trouble," he says.

For most of us alcohol is not a problem. We rely on it to lubricate the social occasions that matter most to us - christenings, weddings and funerals. Alcohol can actually be good for your health, protecting you against heart disease. But only if you are a male over 40 or a post-menopausal woman. Nick Heather, Professor of alcohol and drug studies at Northumbria University says the problem of risky drinking is largely ignored because people believe the only kind of drink problem around is alcoholism.

"Only a relatively small number of people are alcoholics. By concentrating on alcoholism, we've tended to ignore the much greater number of people called risky drinkers who are drinking more than is safe for their health.'

"Risky drinkers don't need to abstain from alcohol. Alcoholics need to give up completely. But research shows people with a mild degree of risky drinking can solve their problems by cutting down their drinking to safer levels."

Prof Heather is now leading a World Health Organisation study to try to find ways of helping people cut down. The researchers are looking at techniques which health workers, including family GPs, can use to help us.

As we questioned drinkers in bars we realised many people haven't a clue what the recommended drinking limits are. Gateshead GP Dr Paul Cassidy specialises in treating people with alcohol problems. He says: "I'm not surprised that people are confused about what the limits are. Some doctors are. But I always stick to 21 units for a man and 14 for a woman."

A unit of alcohol is the equivalent of half a pint of average strength beer, lager or cider (3.5 to 4 per cent volume) or a pub measure of spirits or a small glass of wine.

Dr Cassidy says a drinking diary is the most effective way to assess how much you are consuming every week. "It's often a huge surprise. Most people don't have a clue how much they are drinking. I get them to look at the triggers for when they feel they need a drink and look at alternatives for them. It could be physical exercise or going to different venues or avoiding certain heavy drinking friends."

Perhaps, unwisely, for a health correspondent, I volunteered to keep my own drinking diary to be analysed by doctor for our series - as did two members of CAMRA (The Campaign for Real Ale). I was sort of hoping they would make my weekly intake look good. I wrote everything down in the first week but decided it wasn't typical, it seemed rather high. So I tried keeping a diary the following week. By the fifth week I came round to the idea that maybe I drink more than I'd realised.

l Anne Kostalas' series of special reports on risky drinking is on Look North on Tuesdays at 6.30pm on BBC1. You can also hear them on BBC Radio Cleveland and BBC Radio Newcastle.