RESEARCH ARTICLE Open Access Large-scale implementatio in

Full list of author information is available at the end of the articleBackground Alcohol brief interventions (ABIs) are heterogeneous in-terventions [1-4] that include ‘short conversations aim-ing in a non-confrontational way to motivate individuals to think about and/or plan a change in their drinking behaviour in order to reduce their consumption and/or their risk of harm ’ [5]. ABIs have historically included the use of a screening questionnaire to explore an individual’s consumption level and risk of alcohol prob-lems, and the provision of personalised feedback based on such screening [6]. Systematic reviews have concluded that ABI delivery in primary care has modest efficacy in reducing alcohol consumption in hazardous and harmful drinkers [7,8]. Evidence for efficacy in Accident and Emergency (A&E) [9,10], general hospital [11], antenatal [12,13] and other settings including education, pharmacy and criminal just-ice [14-16] is less convincing. Furthermore the appropri-ateness, targeting and timing of screening for alcoho