NET trainees featured in BTS Stop Smoking Champions Newsletter

The Spring edition of the BTS Stop Smoking Champions newsletter has just been published and we are pleased to say that the work of NorthEast Thames trainees and Consultants is very prominent!

Dr Zaheer Mangera has written an article on a local public health champion, Cecilia Clarke, Health Improvement Manager at Bart’s Health, about her work in smoking cessation. He reflects on her commitment and vision for the service, and the power of CQUINs for driving change. He also talks about his own role as a Stop Smoking Champion and member of the BTS Tobacco Specialist Advisory Group.

Dr James Brown‘s presentation at the Winter BTS ‘Smoking Gun‘ session is also featured.  He presented data on an enhanced smoking cessation service within ambulatory HIV care at the Royal Free, a model which could be replicated in other services.

‘Fags, facts and fallacies: putting stop smoking at the heart of StR training’ presents a summary of the rationale for, and content of, the Whittington Training Day last year. Dr Myra Stern and Dr Laura-Jane Smith hope it serves as a useful model for other training programmes to enhance SpR knowledge and skills in smoking cessation. And of course one of our trainees is stylishly modelling the use of a CO monitor…

We are sure you all saw the RCP report ‘Nicotine without smoke: Tobacco harm reduction‘ and the associated press coverage. There remain concerns and unanswered questions about the use of e-cigarettes, which the report points out, but the RCP has firmly placed it’s flag in the harm reduction camp. The introduction from Professor Jane Dacre, RCP President, perhaps sums up the position of the RCP:

“for all the potential risks involved, harm reduction has huge potential to prevent death and disability from tobacco use, and to hasten our progress to a tobacco-free society. With careful management and proportionate regulation, harm reduction provides an
opportunity to improve the lives of millions of people. It is an opportunity that, with care, we should take.”

Inspired to become a Stop Smoking Champion? Sign up now!

And if you haven’t done so already, have a look at the resources available on the BTS Stop Smoking Champions page. The educational slide-set has just been updated to include advice on e-cigarettes, and is a great resource, full of stats and practical tips.

“Everyone can get involved in the battle against the huge burden of smoking-related morbidity and mortality, and the injustice of consequential health inequalities.”