Information for General Practitioners

Despite smoking prevalence falling significantly in Australia over the past few decades, smoking continues to cause the greatest burden of disease. The most recent data shows that tobacco smoking kills over 1,600 West Australians a year and causes 52 hospitalisations each day.

We know that nearly all tobacco smokers are interested in quitting, and nearly half will attempt to quit each year. However, only 3% of unaided cessation attempts are successful. As a GP, you play a critical and powerful role in motivating and helping your patients to quit smoking. Research shows that brief advice and support from a GP can double a patient’s chance of quitting for good.

Evidence highlights that most people, regardless of their personal situation, want to quit and can do so with the right support. All smokers deserve to be asked about their smoking and offered support and advice to quit.

Quitting smoking not only results in major health, financial and social benefits, it can also improve your patients’ mental health, and strengthen other goals your patients may have, such as securing stable accommodation or recovering from substance misuse. People who are experiencing social and financial disadvantage are more likely to smoke than the general population and face more barriers to quitting; however the flipside is they also stand to gain more from quitting.

Brief intervention only takes two or three minutes, but this quick conversation can make a huge difference to a patient’s life.

Latest research from Australia and the UK suggests that two thirds of smokers will die from their smoking if they don’t quit. This means that if you can help a patient break free from their deadly addiction, it is likely that you will save their life.

If you would like ideas on how to talk to your patients about quitting smoking, please watch the message above from Perth GP, Dr Howard Yip.

Smoking cessation videos

Quit Victoria has developed a series of brief intervention videos for health professionals. These videos provide examples of some of the more common smoking cessation situations you might see in General Practice and how best to handle them. Video running time is generally between one and three minutes.

For more information, please read the RACGP Clinical Guidelines for Supporting Smoking Cessation.

Referral forms

You can refer your patients to the Quitline using the online referral form or by downloading the PDF form here.