The Alcohol Health Alliance UK brings together medical bodies, patient representatives, charities and alcohol health campaigners.

The Royal College of Physicians has a long history of raising awareness of the health damage caused by alcohol and has played a crucial role in the debate surrounding government alcohol policy since its first comments on the gin epidemic in 1725.

The RCP remains a leading voice in the public debate on alcohol and coordinates the Alcohol Health Alliance UK (AHA UK), a network of organisations working to reduce alcohol-related harm.

The provides an expert view on alcohol and alcohol-related harm and has, most recently, submitted evidence to: 

• House of Commons Health Committee inquiry on the alcohol strategy - the RCP and AHA UK responses can be downloaded from the end of this page
• House of Commons Science and Technology Select Committee inquiry on alcohol guidelines - Download the RCP's written evidence on alcohol guidelines (PDF 745KB)

Alcohol Health Alliance UK

The Alcohol Health Alliance UK brings together medical bodies, patient representatives, charities and alcohol health campaigners to:

• highlight the rising levels of alcohol health harm
• propose evidence-based solutions to reduce this harm
• influence decision makers to take positive action to address the damage caused by alcohol misuse.

Our mission is to reduce the damage to health caused by alcohol misuse

Key messages

The AHA UK submits collated responses to a range of consultations. Most recent submissions can be downloaded from the end of this page, and include:

• Health Committee Inquiry on the alcohol strategy - AHA UK written evidence, May 2012
• Public health white paper - AHA UK response, March 2011

The AHA UK's briefings on key alcohol-related issues are available to download at the end of this page. These cover:

• Minimum pricing for alcohol
• Treatment services
• Alcohol marketing
• Mandatory code
• Three key messages from the Alcohol Health Alliance

 Visit the website here

The National Health Action party was formed by a group of like-minded healthcare professionals, who strongly support the original principles of the NHS and are shocked by the failure of the democratic process as demonstrated by the appearance and the passage through parliament of the Health and Social Care Act.

We believe the resulting legislation will destroy the NHS in England as an effective, efficient health system fair to all citizens and patients. It will transform a cost-effective public system of health care into one that will be more expensive, wasteful and unequal, whilst diminishing levels of public trust and corroding standards of ethical behaviour.

Quite apart from the direct effects on healthcare provision, the destruction of the NHS also marks the violation of important social values. The NHS was more than just a structure for the delivery of healthcare. It was also a social institution that reflected national solidarity, expressed the values of equity and universalism, and institutionalised the duty of government to care for all in society.

The NHS marked out a space in society where the dictates of commerce and the market were held in check so as to give expression to socially directed goals, for individuals and society as a whole. Thus the NHS became the glue that holds together the social fabric of our nation.

As the NHS is under so much threat, we believe that a new political party is needed to defend the NHS and its values, and we have therefore set up the National Health Action party.

We welcome members from all walks of life who value the NHS, not just NHS professionals.

Go to: http://www.nationalhealthaction.org.uk/

This report brings together evidence and provides an up-to-date single reference point for the current state of knowledge about shared decision making. 

This evidence shows that shared decision making improves patient's satisfaction, involvement in their care and knowledge of their condition.

Together with Helping people help themselves, the Health Foundation's May 2011 review of the evidence on supporting self-management, the review highlights the need for approaches that support patients to have the confidence, information and support to participate in decisions about their health and healthcare. 

The report also shows that policy statements alone will not put shared decision making into practice – active steps are needed to change the behaviour of both healthcare professionals and patients. 

In drawing together the evidence on shared decision making, and whether it can improve patient outcomes or lead to a more effective allocation of resources, the report highlights gaps in current knowledge.

It finds that there is no common definition of shared decision making, creating significant challenges in understanding and replicating benefits and drawing conclusions across multiple studies.

Download the report here