Binge drinkers and alcoholics are being offered a new support programme in an effort to reduce drink-related hospital admissions in Oxfordshire.

The county’s Substance Misuse and Alcohol Referral Team, Smart, has launched the service to support heavy drinkers.

Eight specialist alcohol workers will now help alcoholics and binge drinkers with advice, one-to-one sessions and therapy. They started work last week.

Darren Worthington, chief executive of Smart, said: “Considering the cost of alcohol on our health and on society as a whole, a clear strategy was needed to support problematic drinkers to get the help they need.

“Through our new alcohol service, Smart will provide services that are more visible, in the hope more people will be willing and able to access them.”

The new service was launched at Smart’s drop-in centre at Marlborough House, Witney.

Smart is commissioned to provide alcohol and drug support for adults in Oxfordshire by the Government’s Drug Alcohol Action Team.

The specialist workers are employed to tailor specific support programmes for anyone referred to them, including one-to-one therapy sessions, group work, cognitive behaviour therapy and referrals for medical help.

Smart has also sent a mobile drugs support service on to the county’s roads.

The van and a team of support workers will regularly visit Barton and Blackbird Leys, in Oxford; Wallingford; Wantage; Faringdon; Berinsfield; Carterton; Burford; Chipping Norton; Thame; and Henley.

Government figures published last month showed alcohol-related admissions at the John Radcliffe Hospital, in Oxford, and The Horton Hospital, in Banbury, rose by 50 per cent between 2003-4 and 2007-8.

And a survey by the Association of Public Health Observatories estimated almost a quarter of adults in Oxfordshire were binge drinkers – higher than the national average of 18 per cent.

To contact Smart call 01865 403151 or visit one of their drop-in centres in Cowley Road, Oxford; Marlborough House, Witney; Didcot Baptist Church, Didcot; the Salvation Army, Bicester, and Banbury Health Centre.