Mike covers Bestwood and Sherwood in his role as a GP and primary care Clinical Director, facing smoking related conditions within the community.
He wants to get families, friends, and communities talking about the benefits of quitting and the support that’s out there.
Mike is passionate about prevention - quitting smoking reduces the risk of conditions he sees in many of his patients, including chronic bronchitis, emphysema, angina, heart attack, stroke, and cancer…even things like type 2 diabetes, osteoporosis and dementia.
Mike is conscious that he doesn't want to patronise patients, simply to encourage them to revisit and reflect on their smoking.
What were your initial reasons for smoking, and do they outweigh the benefits from quitting? It’s not about judging and telling people what to do…I think a lot of people out there would like to be ex-smokers, and there are ways of encouraging people.
He understands that breaking the dependence on nicotine is hard but wants to challenge the idea that smoking helps to deal with stress and anxiety.
In his experience it is quite the opposite, and in fact, although nicotine provides some short-term relief, it quickly gives way to much longer and increased withdrawal symptoms, including low mood, anxiety and depression.
I think one of the reasons people smoke is they perceive it helps with relaxation, dealing with the day to day, with stress, anxiety…but quitting smoking can be more beneficial in making you feel better and actually more enabled to cope with the stress and strains of life.
Mike thinks that GPs are in a great position to let smokers know about the support to quit available to them, what it might be, and how to access it.
The evidence shows you are much more likely to be successful if you use these services, and he wants his patients to be able to have these relaxed and honest conversations about their smoking.
The more people can be comfortable having those sorts of conversations the better! You might talk about the last time that they made an attempt to quit, and what's the barrier at the moment - maybe it was several years ago when perhaps the support to quit wasn't what it is now. There are new services that are available to help you quit, there's medication, there's different ways of being supported.
What advice would I give to smokers?
Just because you weren’t successful before, doesn’t mean you won’t be this time.
It's about the positive benefits of quitting. So, if you were to quit then you might feel better in terms of your breathing, but what does that mean? What can you do with that? If it's being able to keep up with the grandchildren, or to play. To be able to do more, see more money in your bank account to be able to spend on yourself or on others.
People will come back several weeks later and be proud of the fact that they quit, and they will do it with a smile on their face. And I've seen them less, because they've had fewer chest problems and so on. You see a sense of achievement from the patient in front of you, in that they are doing something positive for their health.