Scots GP says addiction should form part of university curriculum

Now recovered, he says his experiences left him better equipped to help those in the grip of addiction. He believes student doctors should receive more training in this area at university, including hearing from those directly affected.

Recovery groups in Glasgow say a more empathetic and informed approach from GPs could help make in-roads into Scotland's drug death toll.

There is still, they say, too much focus in general practice on "treating drugs with drugs".

Like many students, Dr Blackmore says he spent his evenings "kicking the arse out of alcohol and recreational drugs".

"It then developed in medicine and then I had keys to the sweetie jar," he says.

"The uncertainty of medicine was too much to handle at times and I developed an addiction and crashed and burned."

After receiving help he retrained to work as a GP with a specialist interest in addictions working for the Scottish Prison Service and is now a GP partner in Forth Valley.

Dr Michael Blackmore (Image: Dr Michael Blackmore)

He was among those taking part in an event this week at the University of Glasgow this week where students heard from 25 people with lived experience of addiction, including acclaimed author and social commentator Darren McGarvey.

"I've got a small cohort of alcoholics and addicts and one of my ex-patients is here today, in recovery" he said.

READ MORE: Suspected drug deaths in Scotland 22% lower than last year 

"There is so much wrong in GP practice, there's a massive recruitment and retention crisis, not enough GPs to go round and sometimes when you have a patient in front of you, it can be easy to do the quickest thing, give them a Valium prescription, Pregabalin, Tramadol etc," added Dr Blackmore.

"GPs are sometimes people pleasers and it's easier to get the patient out because you are worried about being behind. 

"The harder thing is to try to work out what is going on and how best to help them. I use our community link worker a lot - that's a new thing the Scottish Government have put in place - and he can point them to services and that's helpful.

"Doctors need more training in addiction. It should be part of the curriculum because people not only misuse alcohol and drugs but also food, gambling, sexual behaviour, the internet, gaming."

Dr Michael Blackmore (Image: Dr Michael Blackmore)

He believes better training could have a "massive impact" on drug deaths.

"If there is more awareness about maybe not prescribing what people are demanding at the time, maybe reducing opioid prescribing, the Benzodiazepine prescribing then there wouldn't be those drugs out in the community which adds to the polypharmacy drug-related deaths."

READ MORE: Scotland's poorest 15.3 times more likely to die from drug misuse

One woman who took part in the workshop and is now in recovery from drug and alcohol addiction, said: "To me, doctors just give you drugs for drugs.

Agency (Image: Agency)

"My doctor never really challenged me on it. It was 'maybe you are bipolar' maybe you are something else.

"It did get to the point where I thought I was crackers. They don't know how to help you. All I needed was another addict to listen to me."

Darren McGarvey, Orwell Prize-winning author of Poverty Safari, told of his own experiences of GP consultations in the grip of alcoholism in his mid-20s.

He said: "I remember turning up at doctors and they were dishing out Diazepam like sweeties and dishing out anti-depressants like confetti.

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"You learned the steps of the dance and you learned what you had to say to get the drug you were looking for.

"For me -what an addiction is - is that under a certain emotional discomfort the idea arises in my mind that I would like to use something to take the stress away.

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"The problem I have, unlike other people who can enjoy alcohol or drugs in a responsible way is that once I start, things go out of control pretty quickly.

"When you take the drink and drugs away, the problem really presents itself which is a human being who does not know how to cope with stress. It's a chronic illness but it can be arrested."

The turning point for him, he says, was being told by another in recovery, "you don't need to pick up another drink again."

"I got sober in community centres, run-down church halls. Coffee, tea and a bunch of people who said: "I've been where you are, have you tried this."

Allan Houston, a senior addiction worker in Glasgow with 29 years of experience, said of today's event that it was helpful for those with addictions to hear that it's "not just people from council estates" who are affected.

Doctors have a 10-12% lifetime risk.

He said: "After one of our sessions a student left in tears and said she had learned more about addiction recovery in one-and-a-half hours than a full five years of studying.

"Hopefully [this] is a start to getting it recognised that this is an important part of the curriculum in universities. There were 1333 drugs drug deaths in Scotland this year.

"We are talking about future GPs who are going to be working in the community and in hospitals. A lot of the people they see will have alcohol or drug issues."

His recovery groups take many referrals from GPs now and he says the Scottish Government is making progress but called for more investment in rehabilitation for those coming through detox. 

"We are not there yet," said Mr Houston. "People still turn up and they can't get access to rehab.

"People need immediate help when they are asking for it. 

"We work with people who were put on a prescription 20 years ago and they are still on it. For me personally, that is abuse.

"Some people might need to stay on it for a long time and I've very pro harm reduction but there needs to be a pathway."

The workshop was part of a broader movement, by University of Glasgow medical students called Humanising Healthcare and was organised by Hugo Jobst, who is in his final year.

Feedback will be given to the Scottish Government and a similar event is planned at Dundee University for psychiatry students.

Dasha Romanyuc, a fourth year student from Russia, said addiction was covered by a "few lectures in second year."

She said: " It doesn't really give you the personal side to it -.how people feel and how you can help?"

Another GP, who took part, said: "Medical students have a wide knowledge base that can be learnt from books but to be compassionate and effective doctors they need to learn other skills too like listening, empathy and honest communication. 

"Meeting people with lived experience of addictions and learning from them in an interactive session is more memorable, authentic and impactful."