Current practice: The development of an alcohol liaison service within a general hospital setting: the Edinburgh experience

In 1992, a Scottish Office grant was awarded to develop a nurse‐led alcohol liaison service for patients within a busy general hospital (Leslie & Learmonth, 1994).This project was based on previous research conducted in the same hospital that concluded that early detection of alcohol problems and minimal intervention could considerably reduce long‐term alcohol‐related damage (Chick et al., 1985). A first article describing the service was published in 1994 (Leslie & Learmonth). This follow‐up article aims to describe how the service has developed and expanded since then. This includes the many issues we have encountered on our path to a greater understanding and delivery of specialist alcohol service.