Anthony Gartland
Anthony began his career as a Mental Health Nurse in 1993. He trained as a Registered Mental Nurse in at Homerton College, Cambridge and continued his career at Fulbourn Hospital, part of Cambridgeshire & Peterborough NHS Foundation Trust for over 13 years and is now fully RMN DipHe FDAP (Federation of Drug and Alcohol Practitioners) registered.
Since 2006, Anthony has been working in addictions and continues to work with people who use and misuse alcohol and other drugs as part of his everyday practice.
Anthony is currently a Lead Nurse in the Alcohol Care Team at Royal Surrey County Hospital, Guildford and is Chair of the Surrey Alcohol Liaison Nurses forum.
In 2019, Anthony received the Chief Nurse of England Silver Award for services to nursing.
In 2020, his team won the HSJ Patient Safety Awards- Changing Culture Award.
In 2021 Anthony completed his training to become a Professional Nurse Advocate (PNA).
Identification and management of potential Wernicke Korsakoff Syndrome in an acute hospital setting
Aims: We will show initial findings from a study of the care received by people with alcohol dependence and potential chronic cognitive deficit in relation to Wernicke Korsakoff Syndrome (WKS). Findings will be used to improve quality of care via improved protocols and training for alcohol dependency care awareness.
Setting: Admission wards at Royal Surrey County Hospital, Guildford and Northwick Park Hospital, Harrow.
Design: A retrospective case note review from April 2019 to April 2020 with a representative sample of alcohol dependent patients from two specialist alcohol care teams.
Participants: Adults aged over 18, acute inpatient admission, with a diagnosis of alcohol use disorder or alcohol-related health problem. Cases were identified by NICE guidance (100 and 115) ICD10 diagnostic codes recorded at end of admission. Additional cases where referral was made to Alcohol Care Teams were also included.
Intervention: There was no prospective intervention
Measurements: A predefined dataset included Audit C screening, diagnosis, WKS treatments and length of stay as key variables.
Findings and Conclusions: We will demonstrate the underdiagnosis and subsequent under treatment of WKS in this setting, in contrast to the recommendations for uniform management of any potential WKS case. Key referral metrics will also be reported.