About Alcohol Related Consultancies (ARC)
Lead practitioner and alcohol consultant Mark Holmes (pictured) has a genuine passion for the area of substance misuse.
Mark has 11 years experience of working in the field of substance misuse and has developed expertise in assessment and advice for those with an alcohol misuse problem. Whilst employed by the NHS he has conducted over 2000 assessments, judging levels of motivation and assessing readiness to change behaviour. He has contributed to nationally accepted protocols/ pathways on the management of alcohol withdrawal and Wernickes Encepathoplathy within the general hospital setting. He set up and ran controlled drinking sessions, harm minimisation and abstinence Relapse Prevention based groups in addition to providing individual support.
Mark has trained over 2500 NHS staff on the subject of alcohol and is currently a visiting lecturer for the University of Nottingham on the Adult Intensive Care Degree Pathway and the Hepatobilliary module.
He is a highly skilled Psychiatric Nurse and has attained the Nursing and Midwifery Council Specialist Practitioner Status as well as a first class degree in Substance Misuse from the University of Nottingham. Mark currently is the Vice Chair of the Nursing Council on Alcohol and is a local spokesperson on alcohol for the East Midlands Department of Health.
In The Media
Mark's services and care have been recognised nationally with him featuring in programmes on BBC television and in articles in NHS Magazine, The Independent newspaper and the Nursing Times. This has led to him presenting at national conferences such as the prestigious British Society of Gastroenterology, in the Main Hall at The National Conference Centre in Birmingham.
Links to articles:
National:
The Independent - Nursing the NHS into a better shape
NHS - Live Well - Dying for a Drink
Whyte, Alison (2004) We can employ our nursing skills to the full. Nursing Times. 2004 FEB 3 100 ( 4 ): pg 24 – 25
Service User Experiences:
BBC - Alcohol nurse saved my life
BBC - Hospital Drink Problems Rise
This is Nottingham.co.uk - QMC Drug - Drink Service Set to Handle 6000 A Year
NHS - Live Well - Alcohol Turned My Face Yellow
BSG:
British Society of Gastroenterology Annual Scientific Meeting