Make mine a large one!
 Sherry, gin, wine, Guinness and beer is now on offer to cancer patients at the North Hampshire Hospital in Basingstoke, after nurses decided the medicinal benefits of having a drink had been overlooked for too long.
A drinks trolley is trundled around Wessex Ward twice a day laden with booze donated by patients’ relatives. Junior sister Caroline Price said: ”People forget that alcohol can be very beneficial. It can help to stimulate people’s appetites and it can also calm people down and help them to sleep. Guinness and stouts are a good source of iron too.”
Medicinal alcohol is routinely given to cancer patients according to a spokesman for the North Hampshire Hospital, but some cancer charities said the practice was unusual. The Christie Hospital in Manchester said it had a ban on offering alcohol to patients, unless they had brought their own. The support service Cancer Bacup said it was not common for alcoholic drinks to be given out. However, Marie Curie Cancer Care said that beer, wine and spirits were offered to patients at its hospice in Hampstead, north London.
The Department of Health said that it did not know of any other hospital that offered alcohol, but added that trusts are free to make their own decisions.
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