A WIRRAL based charity is helping to save the local NHS more than £500,00 a year through a unique scheme that keeps problem drinkers out of hospital and frees up vital beds for acutely ill patients.

ARCH runs Birchwood Residential Treatment Centre, a 20-bed unit in Birkenhead where two in every three clients are admitted for detoxification from alcohol and the remainder for drugs.

Against a background of growing national concern about levels of alcohol use, expert staff at Birchwood work closely with hospital doctors through a unique 'referral pathway'. 

This enables doctors to redirect patients they identify as being suitable for detoxification straight to the centre rather than having to admit them to a hospital bed. In doing so, doctors are able to free up more than 1,600 hospital bed days a year for local people.

Birchwoood, which is registered with the Care Quality Commission, successfully combines detoxification with therapeutic approaches tailored specifically to the needs of individuals. 

These range from talking therapies and structured recovery group sessions to advice and support, education in life skills and strategies to prevent relapse.

Dr Jean Quinn, the charity's newly elected chair of trustees, praised ARCH staff for their achievements during 2013/14, which included enabling more than nine in 10 of Birchwood's clients with severe alcohol dependency and complex problems to achieve abstinence on discharge.

Her comments came at the charity's celebrations to mark its 30 years in Wirral on Friday.

Dr Quinn - a former GP and a non executive director of Wirral University Teaching Hospital NHS - said it was her experience of patients whose lives were adversely affected by alcohol and drug misuse that sparked her interest in the work of the charity.

She said: "You have always kept the client centre stage and in doing so, have helped to expand and diversify services for substance misusers. 

"I am very proud to have been associated with ARCH and its staff for many years both as a GP and a trustee. I know from experience that you really do help people to regain control of their lives and transform their futures."

Dr Quinn's words were echoed by a succession of moving video tributes from users of ARCH's services, many of whom referred to the charity as a life saver.

Steve Jones, ARCH's chief executive, said the charity would be working more closely in the coming year with local hospitals to help people with alcohol related illness.

He also said that ARCH would be launching a new service early in 2015 to support employers to tackle the potentially dangerous impacts in the workplace of alcohol and drug use by staff in safety critical industries such as emergency services, manufacturing and warehousing, laboratories and telecommunications companies.

Speaking after the event Steve said: "The impact on the health of people who frequently use alcohol and drugs can be disastrous, impairing their ability to function not only in their personal lives but also at work. 

“Our new service will help employers to protect the health, wellbeing and safety not only of their workforce but also of those who rely on their services.”

The new service will combine best practice advice, support and guidance with high impact training, onsite testing and a wide range of treatment options.