Nick Charles (author)

Last updated

Nick Charles MBE
Born (1944-12-15) 15 December 1944 (age 79)
Occupations
  • Author
  • Alcohol Consultant
Years active1976–present
Website nickcharles.co.uk

Nick Charles MBE (born 1944), is the first person to be honoured by the Queen for 'Services to people with alcohol problems'. [1] He is the author of several books, including his autobiography Through A Glass Brightly, published by Robson Books, and founder of the Chaucer Clinic, the UK's largest alcohol project [2] until it closed in 2005. He was director of the Gainsborough Foundation, which provides treatment for alcoholism through GP surgeries across Cambridgeshire from 2008 to 2017.

Contents

Chaucer Clinic

Charles founded the Chaucer Clinic in 1989. [3] Located in Southall, the clinic grew into the largest in the UK, [3] with most "members" (as they were referred to in the clinic) staying between six and twelve months. [4] In 1998, Charles claimed the clinic had helped thousands of people. [5] For this work, Charles was awarded an MBE for 'Services to people with alcohol problems'. [2] The clinic faced several financial problems following funding cuts in 2001, but stayed open due to private donations, including several from celebrities and musicians following an appeal by Who guitarist Pete Townshend, which helped raise £60,000. [6] The clinic was eventually closed in 2005.

Gainsborough Foundation

Charles and his team relocated to continue their work in the hope of finding new facilities after the Chaucer Clinic closed in 2005. After meeting with GP's in Ramsey, Cambridgeshire, Charles established the Gainsborough Foundation, which offers Charles' unique treatment methods through over 60 GP surgeries across the county. According to statistics kept by the foundation, 78 per cent of patients who complete this treatment are still alcohol-free after two years.[ citation needed ] The Foundation's Programme has also won a number of national awards, including the "improving patient services" award with Ramsey's Rainbow Surgery at the National Association of Primary Care conference in 2010. [7] Nick is currently evaluating the impact alcohol abuse has on mental health per se, together with other trusted professionals in the field.

Personal life

Charles is married to former child star and actress Lesley Roach, with whom he lives in Cambridgeshire.

Bibliography

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Addenbrooke's Hospital</span> NHS teaching hospital and research centre in Cambridge, England

Addenbrooke's Hospital is a large teaching hospital and research centre in Cambridge, England, with strong affiliations to the University of Cambridge. Addenbrooke's Hospital is located on the Cambridge Biomedical Campus. It is run by Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and is a designated academic health science centre. It is also the East of England's major trauma centre and was the first such centre to be operational in the United Kingdom.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Centre for Addiction and Mental Health</span> Hospital in Ontario, Canada

The Centre for Addiction and Mental Health is a psychiatric teaching hospital located in Toronto and ten community locations throughout the province of Ontario, Canada. It reports being the largest research facility in Canada for mental health and addictions. The hospital was formed in 1998 from the amalgamation of four separate institutions – the Queen Street Mental Health Centre, the Clarke Institute of Psychiatry, the Addiction Research Foundation, and the Donwood Institute. It is Canada's largest mental health teaching hospital, and the only stand-alone psychiatric emergency department in Ontario. CAMH has 90 distinct clinical services across inpatient, outpatient, day treatment, and partial hospitalization models. CAMH has been the site of major advancements in psychiatric research, including the discovery of the Dopamine receptor D2.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Family medicine</span> Medical specialty

Family medicine is a medical specialty within primary care that provides continuing and comprehensive health care for the individual and family across all ages, genders, diseases, and parts of the body. The specialist, who is usually a primary care physician, is named a family physician. It is often referred to as general practice and a practitioner as a general practitioner. Historically, their role was once performed by any doctor with qualifications from a medical school and who works in the community. However, since the 1950s, family medicine / general practice has become a specialty in its own right, with specific training requirements tailored to each country. The names of the specialty emphasize its holistic nature and/or its roots in the family. It is based on knowledge of the patient in the context of the family and the community, focusing on disease prevention and health promotion. According to the World Organization of Family Doctors (WONCA), the aim of family medicine is "promoting personal, comprehensive and continuing care for the individual in the context of the family and the community". The issues of values underlying this practice are usually known as primary care ethics.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ashworth Hospital</span> Hospital in Maghull, England

Ashworth Hospital is a high-security psychiatric hospital in Maghull, 10 miles (16 km) northeast of Liverpool. It is a part of Mersey Care NHS Foundation Trust, catering to patients with psychiatric health needs that require treatment in conditions of high security.

Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust is a British public sector healthcare provider located in Cambridge, England. It was established on 4 November 1992 as Addenbrooke's National Health Service Trust, and authorised as an NHS foundation trust under its current name on 1 July 2004.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Royal North Shore Hospital</span> Hospital in New South Wales, Australia

The Royal North Shore Hospital (RNSH) is a major public teaching hospital in Sydney, Australia, located in the suburb of St Leonards. It serves as a teaching hospital for Sydney Medical School at the University of Sydney, University of Technology Sydney and Australian Catholic University and has over 600 beds.

St George's University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, formerly called St George's Healthcare NHS Trust, is based in Tooting in the London Borough of Wandsworth, and serves a population of 1.3 million across southwest London. A large number of services, such as cardiothoracic medicine and surgery, neurosciences and renal transplantation, also cover significant populations from Surrey and Sussex, totalling about 3.5 million people.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fulbourn Hospital</span> Hospital in Cambridge

Fulbourn Hospital is a mental health facility located between the Cambridgeshire village of Fulbourn and the Cambridge city boundary at Cherry Hinton, about 5 miles (8 km) south-east of the city centre. It is managed by the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough NHS Foundation Trust. The Ida Darwin Hospital site is situated behind Fulbourn Hospital. It is run and managed by the same trust, with both hospitals sharing the same facilities and staff pool.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mental health trust</span> Social care services for people with mental health disorders in England

A mental health trust provides health and social care services for people with mental health disorders in England.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">NHS Scotland</span> Publicly-funded healthcare system in Scotland

NHS Scotland, sometimes styled NHSScotland, is the publicly–funded healthcare system in Scotland and one of the four systems that make up the National Health Service in the United Kingdom. It operates 14 territorial NHS boards across Scotland, supported by seven special non-geographic health boards, and Public Health Scotland.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Royal Papworth Hospital</span> Hospital in England

Royal Papworth Hospital is a specialist heart and lung hospital, located on the Cambridge Biomedical Campus in Cambridgeshire, England. The Hospital is run by Royal Papworth Hospital NHS Foundation Trust.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Royal Alexandra Hospital (Edmonton)</span> Hospital in Edmonton, Alberta

The Royal Alexandra Hospital (RAH) is a large and long serving hospital in the Canadian province of Alberta. Operated by Alberta Health Services and located north of Edmonton's downtown core, the Royal Alexandra serves a diverse community stretching from Downtown Edmonton to western and northern Canada. The total catchment area for the RAH is equivalent to 1/3 of Canada's land mass, stretching north from Downtown Edmonton to enpass both the Northwest Territories and Yukon territory, and stretching as far west as British Columbia's pacific coast.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">National Health Service (England)</span> Publicly-funded healthcare system in England

The National Health Service (NHS) is the publicly funded healthcare system in England, and one of the four National Health Service systems in the United Kingdom. It is the second largest single-payer healthcare system in the world after the Brazilian Sistema Único de Saúde. Primarily funded by the government from general taxation, and overseen by the Department of Health and Social Care, the NHS provides healthcare to all legal English residents and residents from other regions of the UK, with most services free at the point of use for most people. The NHS also conducts research through the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">National Health Service</span> Publicly-funded healthcare systems in the United Kingdom

The National Health Service (NHS) is the umbrella term for the publicly funded healthcare systems of the United Kingdom, comprising the NHS in England, NHS Scotland and NHS Wales. Health and Social Care in Northern Ireland was created separately and is often locally referred to as "the NHS". The original three systems were established in 1948 as part of major social reforms following the Second World War. The founding principles were that services should be comprehensive, universal and free at the point of delivery—a health service based on clinical need, not ability to pay. Each service provides a comprehensive range of health services, provided without charge for residents of the United Kingdom apart from dental treatment and optical care. In England, NHS patients have to pay prescription charges; some, such as those aged over 60, or those on certain state benefits, are exempt.

Robert Gordon Bell, was a Canadian medical doctor and pioneer in the field of addiction treatment. He founded the Donwood Institute, North America's first public hospital for addiction treatment, in 1967. During his lifetime, he was considered Canada's foremost authority on the treatment of drug and alcohol addiction.

Out-of-hours services are the arrangements to provide access to healthcare at times when General Practitioner surgeries are closed; in the United Kingdom this is normally between 6.30pm and 8am, at weekends, at Bank Holidays and sometimes if the practice is closed for educational sessions.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Healthcare in Kent</span>

Healthcare in Kent has, from 1 July 2022, been mainly the responsibility of the Kent & Medway Integrated Care Board. Certain specialised services are directly commissioned by NHS England, coordinated through the South East integrated regional team. Some NHS England structures are aligned on a Kent and Medway basis, others on a South East basis and there is liaison with London to provide many tertiary healthcare services.

Noreen Oliver MBE was a British businesswoman, rehabilitation centre owner and advocate of drug and alcohol policy reform. She was the founder and CEO of addiction treatment centres in Burton-upon-Trent and Clayton, Staffordshire.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Private healthcare in the United Kingdom</span>

Private healthcare in the UK, where universal state-funded healthcare is provided by the National Health Service, is a niche market.

Ben Parkinson MBE is a former British paratrooper, veteran's campaigner and author. He is the most severely wounded soldier to survive the War in Afghanistan. Both his legs were amputated, he broke his back and suffered lasting brain damage when the Land Rover he was travelling in struck a landmine in 2006. He defied his doctor's expectations by learning to walk and talk again and regularly raises money for veteran's charities. His case forced the Ministry of Defence to significantly increase compensation payouts to wounded British soldiers.

References

  1. "A long day's journey - Profile of Nick Charles, head of the Chaucer alcohol clinic". Society Guardian. London: Guardian news and Media LTD. 17 September 2001. Retrieved 3 April 2009.
  2. 1 2 Beckett, Simon (17 September 2001). "A long day's journey - Profile of Nick Charles, head of the Chaucer alcohol clinic". Society Guardian. London: Guardian news and Media LTD. Retrieved 9 December 2016.
  3. 1 2 "A long day's journey". Guardian. 17 October 2001. Retrieved 12 December 2016.
  4. "Sobriety in the last chance saloon" . Guardian. 15 July 1995. Archived from the original on 20 June 2022. Retrieved 9 December 2016.
  5. "Health: Beating the booze with a dry sense of humour" . Independent. 31 August 1998. Archived from the original on 20 June 2022. Retrieved 9 December 2016.
  6. "In Brief". Guardian. 21 April 2001. Retrieved 12 December 2016.
  7. "GP Surgery Wins National Award". Cambridgeshire and Peterborough CCG. 3 November 2010.