Trauma files 'could aid care'

MEDICAL records should include details of traumas a patient has suffered, a GP conference has heard.

Experts who gathered recently in Edinburgh said analysis of events such as tragedies and deaths in a family explained subsequent psychiatric behaviour.

The summit at Dr Bell's Family Centre in Leith found that there were extensive links between trauma and substance abuse, and that channelling efforts earlier may reduce the massive bill for drug and alcohol dependence.

A spokeswoman for the event said: "Millions of pounds are spent on services for families affected by substance misuse, often to no effect. The evidence suggests that if effective treatment for trauma was widely available, a lot of human misery could be avoided, and a lot of money saved."