Anti-smoking focus for GPs

Patients are happy to talk to their GP about stopping smoking

Helping a person to stop smoking is the best thing they can do for their patient's health, according to over 90% of GPs.

Eight out of 10 have become more involved in smoking cessation work over the last year, according to a survey of 200 GPs .

And nine out of 10 of the 2,000 smokers quizzed said they wanted their GP to offer them help.

Of those who had already talked about stopping smoking with their GP, 78% found it helpful even if they did not want to quit straight away.

We all know smokers who really want to give up cigarettes but a little bit of advice from a professional can make all the difference

Dr Alex Bobak,
London GP

One smoker, Sarah Wolf, who gave up a year ago because she did not want to be a smoker on her wedding day, said: "I can honestly say that stopping smoking is the one thing I have done in my life that I am most proud off.

"My motivation to quit was a key factor in my success, but the treatment and support I received from my GP also played a crucial part."

In last summer's NHS Plan, the government outlined measures aimed at cutting the number of smokers by 1.5m by 2010.

Estimates suggest 120,000 people die every year - 13 per hour - through smoking-related illness, which make up a fifth of all deaths.

Smoking-related disease costs £1.7bn a year in GP consultations, prescriptions and hospital care.

GP involvement

Dr Alex Bobak, a GP in Wandsworth, London, told BBC News Online: "We all know smokers who really want to give up cigarettes but a little bit of advice from a professional can make all the difference."

He added that recent initiatives, allowing doctors to prescribe the anti-smoking drug Zyban and nicotine replacement therapy, plus the wide availability of smoking cessation clinics had meant GPs could be more closely involved in helping their patients quit.

"It is well known that smoking kills one in two lifelong smokers and that many patients need medical help to beat the addictive power of nicotine.

"The last year has been an exciting time for GPs as we are better equipped than ever before to help patients stop smoking.

Amanda Sandford, research manager for Action on Smoking and Health, said: "It's very encouraging that the vast majority of GPs recognise the importance of helping their patients stop smoking and are offering practical advice to those who want to quit.

"Smoking causes more than fifty different diseases and disorders but stopping smoking means that most of these can be avoided.

Straightforward advice

"GPs know that prevention is better than cure and there is no better way to avoid life-threatening diseases than to stop smoking."

A spokesman for the smokers' rights group Forest, said: "If people want to give up smoking, that's fine.

But she said doctors were under some pressure to emcourage people to quit so government targets could be met.

"And if they're trying to coerce people to stop smoking, that's something we would object to."