WEBVTT - Clean Slate Clinic 0:00:05.921 --> 0:00:07.281 Apogee Production. 0:00:11.041 --> 0:00:14.441 Hi, my name's beck Woodbine and welcome to Tenderness for Nurses. 0:00:15.041 --> 0:00:18.841 I'm grateful for the person that I have the opportunity 0:00:18.881 --> 0:00:22.441 to be, so I hid it and parked it for 0:00:22.561 --> 0:00:23.681 nearly four years. 0:00:24.121 --> 0:00:26.361 We always have free will, We always get to choose. 0:00:26.481 --> 0:00:30.281 We are autonomous. Thank you everyone for tuning back into 0:00:30.281 --> 0:00:33.361 tend Andnis for Nurses. Today we have doctor Chris Davis 0:00:33.400 --> 0:00:36.681 with us. He holds two hats, one being one of 0:00:36.681 --> 0:00:39.561 the directors of Clean Slate Clinics, which is what we're 0:00:39.601 --> 0:00:42.041 going to be chatting to him about, but also his 0:00:42.641 --> 0:00:45.720 works in ED at Saint Vincent's Hospital. 0:00:46.120 --> 0:00:49.001 Yeah, I'm a GP by training, so I was a 0:00:49.040 --> 0:00:52.441 full time GP until a couple of years ago when 0:00:52.480 --> 0:00:55.721 I got a job at Saint Vincent's Hospital in addiction 0:00:56.161 --> 0:01:00.441 medicine really in an attempt to become well, hopefully a 0:01:00.481 --> 0:01:05.681 successful one, to become an addiction specialist in an addiction 0:01:05.761 --> 0:01:07.200 medicine at the hospital part time. 0:01:07.921 --> 0:01:12.801 Fantastic. Well, I, as you know, had your colleague Chris 0:01:12.881 --> 0:01:15.961 Kimpaul come in and have a chat with us here 0:01:16.000 --> 0:01:18.761 on the podcast, and it today has been one of 0:01:18.801 --> 0:01:23.361 our most popular podcasts. He was very raw and honest, 0:01:23.481 --> 0:01:26.401 and it made me really want to have a chat 0:01:26.441 --> 0:01:29.280 to you in relation to clean Slate Clinic, especially with 0:01:29.360 --> 0:01:34.560 Christmas literally a couple of weeks away. So how did 0:01:34.640 --> 0:01:36.241 clean slate Clinics start? 0:01:36.881 --> 0:01:42.721 Actually started? Probably about twelve years ago. I was working 0:01:42.761 --> 0:01:47.921 as a busy in a city GP in London. I'd 0:01:47.961 --> 0:01:51.681 only been a GP for a couple of years, and 0:01:52.041 --> 0:01:56.841 I got a partnership in a practice when I was 0:01:56.881 --> 0:01:58.961 way too young. To be honest, I'd only been a 0:01:59.001 --> 0:02:01.001 GP for about eighteen months. I didn't really know what 0:02:01.041 --> 0:02:04.681 I was doing as a junior GP, and but I 0:02:04.681 --> 0:02:09.801 was and I went for a partnership role and got 0:02:09.841 --> 0:02:13.560 the job, which was so flattering. I didn't even think 0:02:13.601 --> 0:02:17.001 to do any sort of due diligence around what this meant. 0:02:17.001 --> 0:02:19.481 But it did mean buying into a business and being 0:02:19.520 --> 0:02:23.921 a business owner and a manager. And the people that 0:02:23.960 --> 0:02:28.801 I went into business with were not the sort of 0:02:28.800 --> 0:02:31.520 people that you want to do that with. I mean, 0:02:31.561 --> 0:02:34.960 the two senior partners hated each other. One would say 0:02:35.001 --> 0:02:37.601 no just because the other had said yes. I remember 0:02:37.641 --> 0:02:42.041 being in one practice meeting where the senior partner was 0:02:42.081 --> 0:02:44.241 screaming at the other one to the point where he 0:02:44.520 --> 0:02:48.720 actually lost consciousness. He fainted. He was during Grammadam and 0:02:48.761 --> 0:02:51.361 he hadn't eaten and so he's now unconscious on the 0:02:51.401 --> 0:02:55.120 floor and Michelle, the senior partner, was still screaming at him, 0:02:55.161 --> 0:03:01.081 and I'm like, Michelle, help him. He's not breathing. So 0:03:01.121 --> 0:03:03.800 that was pretty awful. I was there for four years. 0:03:03.800 --> 0:03:08.041 But one thing that We're saved me during that horrendous 0:03:08.161 --> 0:03:12.960 job was the drug and alcohol work that I got 0:03:13.001 --> 0:03:19.041 interested in doing and the local PHN, which is like 0:03:19.121 --> 0:03:22.641 the primary health network. So the group of commissioners, we 0:03:22.800 --> 0:03:26.081 were really short of methodonne and buper and orphing prescribers 0:03:26.121 --> 0:03:28.761 in the area, so they offered us free training to 0:03:28.800 --> 0:03:32.601 any interested GPS. So this meant that once a month 0:03:32.680 --> 0:03:34.441 I got a day off to go and do this 0:03:34.601 --> 0:03:37.601 training and I could escape this toxic practice that I 0:03:37.681 --> 0:03:41.161 was in. And I became like a methodone prescriber and 0:03:41.201 --> 0:03:43.401 I love that work. And I got to work with 0:03:43.401 --> 0:03:45.601 a drug and out on these who would you know, 0:03:45.761 --> 0:03:49.721 do roll of the legwork. And but what what I 0:03:49.761 --> 0:03:53.561 really became interested in when I sort of developed this 0:03:53.641 --> 0:03:57.641 interest was well, it became a sort of journey of 0:03:57.641 --> 0:04:02.881 self improvement. To be honest, so I mean it to 0:04:03.121 --> 0:04:06.401 to sort of get get right into. I mean, I've 0:04:06.441 --> 0:04:08.801 had a lot of special interest. I'd done palliative care, 0:04:08.841 --> 0:04:12.641 i was working in nursing homes, I was helping doing 0:04:12.681 --> 0:04:16.841 the diabetes management programs, and I loved working with kids. 0:04:16.881 --> 0:04:19.081 I've done a lot of pediatrics in my training, and 0:04:19.081 --> 0:04:21.281 I always wanted to be a pediatrician. And so I 0:04:21.320 --> 0:04:24.361 had all these interests and every aspect of medicine it 0:04:24.401 --> 0:04:28.481 always held some fascination for me. And whatever I started 0:04:28.481 --> 0:04:31.041 to do, I really got my teeth into and loved it. 0:04:31.081 --> 0:04:34.880 But around this time I was gaining this interest in 0:04:34.921 --> 0:04:39.681 extra knowledge and drug and alcohol. What I really began 0:04:39.721 --> 0:04:45.481 to get insight into, you know, I was maturing and 0:04:46.281 --> 0:04:52.001 was that I needed help with my own drinking. I 0:04:52.041 --> 0:04:58.321 grew up in very I mean I had a great childhood. 0:04:58.320 --> 0:05:01.721 I really did. But when I grew up as a 0:05:01.721 --> 0:05:07.841 gay boy in a very homophobic town, the you know 0:05:07.880 --> 0:05:10.401 I do. I really did love my upbringing. I had 0:05:10.481 --> 0:05:15.241 incredible friends, I really had a loving family. It was 0:05:15.361 --> 0:05:17.721 very working class. We didn't have any of the trappings. 0:05:17.721 --> 0:05:21.880 But I loved the camping holidays and playing sport. And 0:05:22.201 --> 0:05:26.361 but I was I was very closeted and as much 0:05:26.401 --> 0:05:30.241 as I had these feelings that I knew weren't okay. 0:05:30.921 --> 0:05:33.681 And you know, there was one gay guy I was 0:05:33.721 --> 0:05:36.281 aware of in our town who was branded a pedophile, 0:05:37.121 --> 0:05:40.521 not because he was a pedophile, just because of his sexuality. 0:05:40.601 --> 0:05:44.521 And yeah, and not one kid in my school came 0:05:44.561 --> 0:05:48.841 out because of the fear of what that actually meant. 0:05:48.880 --> 0:05:51.241 And you know, and there was the HIV crisis. You know, 0:05:51.481 --> 0:05:53.801 I was born in the eighties. I was born in 0:05:53.801 --> 0:05:59.041 seventy seven, and so being game wasn't okay. It meant 0:05:59.041 --> 0:06:02.721 you were going to die and be be villified, you know. 0:06:03.041 --> 0:06:06.441 And then when I was about eighty, I remember my 0:06:06.561 --> 0:06:08.761 mom sitting us down. My mum was an amazing woman. 0:06:08.841 --> 0:06:12.121 She passed away last year, unfortunately, and she taught sex 0:06:12.161 --> 0:06:14.401 head and she told me and my brother and sister 0:06:14.440 --> 0:06:16.161 that if any of us were gay, that mom and 0:06:16.241 --> 0:06:18.801 dad would be fine about it. And we all laughed 0:06:18.801 --> 0:06:21.520 because none of us were. And of course I was, yeah, 0:06:21.681 --> 0:06:24.361 definitely not out at that point. But I remembered it 0:06:24.601 --> 0:06:27.760 really because I clopped it for later, you know, and 0:06:27.880 --> 0:06:31.361 went through UNI still in the closet, and you know, 0:06:31.961 --> 0:06:34.520 full of shame, you know, about that side of me. 0:06:35.161 --> 0:06:40.080 And then when I eventually did, I flew out. I 0:06:40.121 --> 0:06:43.401 did my house jobs in Stepping Hill and Stockport in Manchester, 0:06:43.481 --> 0:06:46.281 and it was horrendous. They monitored my hours, well all 0:06:46.320 --> 0:06:48.201 of the junior doctor's hours at the time, because I 0:06:48.201 --> 0:06:51.041 had been some deaths, like junior doctors had died because 0:06:51.081 --> 0:06:53.161 they were so tired and they crushed their car and 0:06:53.161 --> 0:06:57.841 there'd been a suicide. And my average hours per week 0:06:57.921 --> 0:07:01.960 was one hundred and eleven. Oh my god. And so 0:07:02.001 --> 0:07:03.881 I hated it because again, you're a junior doctor. You 0:07:03.921 --> 0:07:06.320 don't know what you're doing. You're flying by the seat 0:07:06.320 --> 0:07:08.601 of your pants. You're hoping that the nurses are going 0:07:08.641 --> 0:07:11.041 to be kind to you, and you know, and so 0:07:11.121 --> 0:07:12.561 it was awful. So I thought, I'm going to hate 0:07:12.601 --> 0:07:14.881 it this much, might as well go and hate it 0:07:15.241 --> 0:07:17.601 and live in Australia and be on the beach, you know. 0:07:18.121 --> 0:07:20.561 And around that time, you know, I was really coming 0:07:20.561 --> 0:07:23.201 to the terms with the fact that I wasn't that 0:07:23.321 --> 0:07:26.121 I did have these feelings towards men, and that you know, 0:07:26.201 --> 0:07:28.601 they weren't going to go away like I hoped that 0:07:28.681 --> 0:07:31.961 they would. So I arrived in Australia and then I 0:07:31.961 --> 0:07:36.241 met Luke, who's my now husband, and fell in love. 0:07:36.281 --> 0:07:38.281 And it was an amazing sort of way to come 0:07:38.321 --> 0:07:41.280 out in a way, because you know, I wasn't telling 0:07:41.281 --> 0:07:42.921 people that I was gay. I was telling people that 0:07:43.001 --> 0:07:45.801 I was in love. And I wasn't really scared about 0:07:45.841 --> 0:07:48.641 telling mom, you know, because she'd said this thing when 0:07:48.681 --> 0:07:50.961 I was eighteen, and she I was so close to her, 0:07:51.041 --> 0:07:55.361 and so then when I told her, my mom didn't 0:07:55.961 --> 0:07:59.121 react very well, you know, and in fact, she reacted 0:07:59.121 --> 0:08:01.601 pretty pretty awfully. It was very hard for her to understand. 0:08:01.641 --> 0:08:05.361 It was a surprise to her as it, yeah, as 0:08:05.401 --> 0:08:07.121 it had been to sort of me in a way, 0:08:07.161 --> 0:08:09.201 because I was coming out to myself at the same time, 0:08:09.321 --> 0:08:12.921 and I didn't identify as being gay. I knew I 0:08:12.921 --> 0:08:15.041 was in love with Luke, but gay had all of 0:08:15.081 --> 0:08:17.841 these horrible negative connotations, you know. I was going to 0:08:17.841 --> 0:08:21.801 be all of the things that you know that gay 0:08:21.881 --> 0:08:23.801 meant when I was growing up. And so I was 0:08:23.841 --> 0:08:25.681 coming to terms of my own sexuality and what that 0:08:25.761 --> 0:08:28.521 actually meant and who I was. And I was doing 0:08:28.521 --> 0:08:32.481 it without the support of my mom at the time, and. 0:08:32.521 --> 0:08:35.321 So I try, how about your siblings, did they support you? 0:08:35.961 --> 0:08:38.601 So Mom, didn't. I was in Australia at the time, 0:08:38.641 --> 0:08:41.641 and this is before social media, and you know, I 0:08:41.641 --> 0:08:44.161 had to pay a fortune to make a phone call home, 0:08:44.241 --> 0:08:46.801 and I was doing group emails once a week, you know, 0:08:47.321 --> 0:08:50.281 to all my friends and that's how I communicated. So 0:08:50.401 --> 0:08:53.881 Mom didn't want my siblings or my dad to know 0:08:54.041 --> 0:08:57.561 because she thought it would be a phase, and you know, 0:08:58.121 --> 0:09:01.121 she was protecting them, I guess in a way. So 0:09:01.161 --> 0:09:05.001 they didn't know for about a year and it got 0:09:05.121 --> 0:09:07.441 too much and Luke and I split up. He went 0:09:07.481 --> 0:09:11.361 back to England and it was horrendous for him, horrendous 0:09:11.361 --> 0:09:13.961 for me, but I, you know, I wasn't. I needed 0:09:14.001 --> 0:09:16.201 to sort my own head out. I didn't think I 0:09:16.201 --> 0:09:18.441 was doing anything wrong. But at the same time, my 0:09:18.521 --> 0:09:21.321 family was breaking up and was saying things like I 0:09:21.321 --> 0:09:25.241 wouldn't be welcome home, and so, yeah, so me and 0:09:25.281 --> 0:09:28.881 him split up and he was heartbroken. Anyway, I went 0:09:28.961 --> 0:09:31.601 home to England from Australia for a wedding and met 0:09:31.681 --> 0:09:34.921 up again with Luke and everything became clear. You know. 0:09:35.201 --> 0:09:37.321 It was amazing to see him again and for him 0:09:37.361 --> 0:09:40.921 to forgive me, and yeah, I knew that I had 0:09:40.961 --> 0:09:44.001 to be with him and I couldn't risk losing him again, 0:09:44.081 --> 0:09:49.161 and so told Mom and she wasn't okay about it. 0:09:49.201 --> 0:09:52.961 I went back to Australia, leaving Luke in England. But 0:09:53.081 --> 0:09:54.801 now I'm like, Mom, I've got to tell my family. 0:09:54.841 --> 0:09:56.921 I've got to tell Dad. I've got to heelp because 0:09:56.921 --> 0:09:58.281 I'm going to be with Luke for the rest of 0:09:58.321 --> 0:10:02.201 my life. You know. Anyway, my brother was flying out. 0:10:02.561 --> 0:10:05.401 He's just about eighteen months younger than me. My with her, 0:10:05.401 --> 0:10:07.921 and he was flying out to come and stay with 0:10:07.961 --> 0:10:10.161 me for a few months because we were really close 0:10:10.561 --> 0:10:13.401 and we still are, and I owe him. I owe 0:10:13.441 --> 0:10:15.961 him a lot because when my brother was coming out 0:10:17.001 --> 0:10:21.921 and I had to tell him, and Luke had just 0:10:22.041 --> 0:10:23.921 come out to stay with me for two or three 0:10:23.921 --> 0:10:27.521 weeks and he wasn't. He missed his flight because we 0:10:27.761 --> 0:10:32.081 were partying so hard. He missed his flight and my 0:10:32.121 --> 0:10:35.401 brother arrived the next day and so he came to 0:10:35.481 --> 0:10:38.081 sleep in in this in the lounge and there was 0:10:38.121 --> 0:10:43.841 this man in my bedroom and anyway, got through his hangover, 0:10:43.961 --> 0:10:46.961 flew home. I did a night shift, came back and 0:10:47.521 --> 0:10:49.441 you know, all night I was like, I've got to 0:10:49.481 --> 0:10:52.841 tell my brother. This massive thing. You know, and so 0:10:52.881 --> 0:10:56.481 I sent my brother down and I was like, I've 0:10:56.481 --> 0:10:58.761 got something to tell you, and he goes, I think 0:10:58.801 --> 0:11:01.441 I know, bro, and I'm like, no, you don't know this. 0:11:02.041 --> 0:11:05.281 He goes, I think I do, and I'm like what, 0:11:05.441 --> 0:11:07.681 and he goes, are you gay? So no, no, no 0:11:07.721 --> 0:11:10.801 I'm not gay because I wasn't in my own head 0:11:10.841 --> 0:11:12.681 at this time, you know, I was just in love 0:11:12.721 --> 0:11:16.601 with Luke, which obviously I now know is the same thing. 0:11:17.321 --> 0:11:20.001 And he goes, he goes, but Luke's your boyfriend, right, 0:11:20.001 --> 0:11:22.401 I said, yeah, Luke's my boyfriend. And I'm like, how 0:11:22.401 --> 0:11:24.801 did you know? And he goes, well, I found this poem, 0:11:25.561 --> 0:11:28.641 found his poem in the kitchen, and Luke had written 0:11:28.681 --> 0:11:32.481 me a love rap and had left it there. My 0:11:32.521 --> 0:11:34.881 brother found it. It was quite an interesting way for him. 0:11:34.921 --> 0:11:39.201 I won't tell you what was in what and decent. 0:11:39.601 --> 0:11:45.401 And I was so petrified that my brother was gonna 0:11:46.121 --> 0:11:49.041 act in the same way that my mom had, you know. 0:11:49.681 --> 0:11:53.081 And then I told my dad. My dad mom had 0:11:53.161 --> 0:11:56.481 just told him before I got on the phone to him, 0:11:56.881 --> 0:11:59.041 and he just said all the same sort of things 0:11:59.081 --> 0:12:01.441 momma was saying. And I'm like, Dad, they're not your words, 0:12:01.441 --> 0:12:04.401 then Mom's words, and I'm like, all you've ever said 0:12:04.401 --> 0:12:06.041 to me, Dad is that you want me to be happy. 0:12:06.041 --> 0:12:07.801 And what I'm telling you is that this is the 0:12:07.841 --> 0:12:10.761 happiest I've ever been, and I've met the person I'm 0:12:10.761 --> 0:12:12.561 going to spend the rest of my life with him. 0:12:12.601 --> 0:12:15.841 This is incredible news. And he goes, oh, but you're 0:12:15.881 --> 0:12:19.161 happy as any heads that I'm really happy. He goes, well, 0:12:19.201 --> 0:12:21.441 that's good news then, isn't it. So I'm like, Dad, 0:12:21.481 --> 0:12:25.001 it's the best news. And he's never looked back from that, 0:12:25.281 --> 0:12:29.441 you know, he's but it was really hard because you 0:12:29.441 --> 0:12:32.561 go up with this shame and fear of rejection, and 0:12:32.641 --> 0:12:36.521 when you're rejected by the person who means the most 0:12:36.521 --> 0:12:38.801 to you in the world, which is eventually which is 0:12:39.841 --> 0:12:42.361 why I finished with Luke. Initially, it was because I 0:12:42.361 --> 0:12:46.601 couldn't imagine not, you know, losing my mum or losing 0:12:46.601 --> 0:12:48.601 my relationship with my mum, because it was so important 0:12:48.601 --> 0:12:52.961 at that time, and you know, and Luke understands that 0:12:53.001 --> 0:12:58.841 of course. Anyway, I'm sort of I'm digressing, but you know, drinking, 0:12:59.041 --> 0:13:00.921 and certainly when me and Luke split up for that 0:13:01.001 --> 0:13:04.041 six months, I just I drank every weekend when I 0:13:04.121 --> 0:13:07.361 wasn't working, I drink and I'd escape, and you know, 0:13:07.401 --> 0:13:10.441 you didn't have to worry, and you know, I'd drink 0:13:10.521 --> 0:13:13.321 to black out a lot of the time because I 0:13:13.321 --> 0:13:17.681 don't know. So then well, you know, Luke and I. 0:13:17.681 --> 0:13:19.841 I moved back to England and Luke and I were 0:13:19.921 --> 0:13:23.321 great and life was good. I was working as this GP, 0:13:23.681 --> 0:13:27.201 and but the bin drinking sort of stayed with me 0:13:27.241 --> 0:13:29.681 and it was full part of the pattern. When I 0:13:29.721 --> 0:13:31.201 was doing there was one hundred and eleven hours a 0:13:31.201 --> 0:13:34.041 week as well. It's like we had the doctor's mess 0:13:34.041 --> 0:13:36.281 in the hospital which always had free alcohol in and 0:13:36.761 --> 0:13:39.121 we lived in the hospital, worked in the hospital, and 0:13:39.201 --> 0:13:41.281 obviously when you're working, you're working, but that on that 0:13:41.321 --> 0:13:44.161 one day off or that weekend off, you know, you're 0:13:44.921 --> 0:13:46.761 and even when you're in the mess when you are working, 0:13:47.041 --> 0:13:50.041 there's one of your mates drunk, you know, in there. 0:13:51.041 --> 0:13:53.961 Because so we were bings. We were party hard. We'd 0:13:54.001 --> 0:13:57.001 work hard with party hard as a release from the 0:13:57.041 --> 0:13:59.801 stress from work and everything else that was going on. 0:14:00.201 --> 0:14:02.401 And then when I got this job in London where 0:14:02.441 --> 0:14:05.641 Clean State started, and it was awful. It was really 0:14:05.641 --> 0:14:10.041 really toxic, and so yeah, so the binge drinking just happened, 0:14:10.081 --> 0:14:13.361 and that didn't happen. It just didn't stop happening. And 0:14:13.441 --> 0:14:18.481 whilst it was fun, the Mondays and the Tuesdays and 0:14:18.601 --> 0:14:22.681 this workplace were so bad that I was suffering with 0:14:23.561 --> 0:14:27.041 anxiety for sure. But I remember being at a friend's 0:14:27.041 --> 0:14:29.441 wedding and I got a phone call from what I 0:14:29.441 --> 0:14:33.401 thought was the landlord and it wasn't, and I got 0:14:33.401 --> 0:14:38.121 that tightness in the chest, sweating, and I had the palpitations, 0:14:38.921 --> 0:14:41.561 and I'm like, okay, I knew what it was. I'd 0:14:41.601 --> 0:14:43.321 had a panic attack when I was younger, but I 0:14:43.401 --> 0:14:45.401 knew what it was because I was a doctor and 0:14:45.441 --> 0:14:48.801 I dealt with people suffering with panic. But I'm like, yeah, 0:14:49.121 --> 0:14:51.481 I can see why people go to hospital with this feeling. 0:14:51.521 --> 0:14:53.881 It was that bad, you know. And then I was 0:14:53.921 --> 0:14:57.481 doing this extra work with drug and alcohol and I'm like, okay, right, 0:14:57.561 --> 0:15:00.081 alcohol is really part of the problem here. It's really 0:15:00.121 --> 0:15:05.001 not helping me. And so there was a group of 0:15:05.121 --> 0:15:08.601 of GPS helped doing these home alcohol detox clinics. There 0:15:08.641 --> 0:15:11.481 was three, well, there was two GPS, and then I 0:15:11.601 --> 0:15:15.961 joined the ranks because I really wanted to get involved 0:15:16.041 --> 0:15:19.241 a to help myself. It's like, how do you start 0:15:19.241 --> 0:15:22.201 the habit of a lifetime. This is how my friends 0:15:23.001 --> 0:15:25.041 meet up, but you know, we go out, we drink, 0:15:25.041 --> 0:15:28.481 and we get drunk. How do you change that? And 0:15:30.401 --> 0:15:35.361 also because I'd noticed it, which it seems like a 0:15:35.441 --> 0:15:39.241 crazy thing, particularly for a doctor to say and to see, 0:15:39.281 --> 0:15:43.041 but I started asking my patients about their drinking. And 0:15:43.081 --> 0:15:45.201 that's not really part You think that would just be 0:15:45.321 --> 0:15:48.681 part of every history, and absolutely it should be, but 0:15:48.841 --> 0:15:52.161 drug and alcohol, you know, unless someone volunteered that they 0:15:52.161 --> 0:15:55.681 were drinking too much, it wasn't part of your normal 0:15:55.761 --> 0:15:58.721 questioning smoking. Yes, but I didn't used to ask people 0:15:58.801 --> 0:16:00.881 until I've done this extra training about their drug. U 0:16:00.921 --> 0:16:03.401 saw they're drinking. But now I was saying that what 0:16:03.921 --> 0:16:07.401 an incredible effect it had had on my mental health 0:16:07.401 --> 0:16:10.481 and my physical health. And I started asking people about it, 0:16:10.801 --> 0:16:14.481 and you know, it just brought brought up so many, 0:16:15.241 --> 0:16:18.841 so many things, And so I started helping people detox 0:16:18.841 --> 0:16:21.561 from alcohol at home. And because I was going through 0:16:21.881 --> 0:16:25.001 my own sort of shame and guilt and all of 0:16:25.041 --> 0:16:28.121 these emotions, when patients opened up to me and said, yeah, 0:16:28.321 --> 0:16:30.601 I'm drinking too much, it's affected me in this way 0:16:30.641 --> 0:16:34.121 and I want to change, and then taking them through 0:16:34.601 --> 0:16:38.641 a withdrawal and seeing the incredible change that it made, 0:16:38.921 --> 0:16:41.881 and seeing the bravery in my patients, you know, the 0:16:42.361 --> 0:16:46.081 courage that it takes to say I've got a problem 0:16:46.161 --> 0:16:48.921 with alcohol in this society and I'm going to do 0:16:49.001 --> 0:16:51.201 something about it, and I'm going to tell these people 0:16:51.281 --> 0:16:54.681 this is It really resonated with my own sort of 0:16:54.721 --> 0:16:59.521 coming out story and also my own sort of struggles 0:16:59.641 --> 0:17:02.881 with alcohol, and so it was such a privilege. You know, 0:17:03.081 --> 0:17:05.361 I was so in awe of my patients who who 0:17:05.481 --> 0:17:07.080 were brave enough to put that hand up and make 0:17:07.121 --> 0:17:09.201 this change, and to be the one that could help 0:17:09.281 --> 0:17:11.960 them do that, and to see the incredible difference it 0:17:12.080 --> 0:17:15.321 made to their physical health, their mental health, to the 0:17:15.400 --> 0:17:20.161 relationships to their working lives. It was the most rewarding 0:17:20.201 --> 0:17:23.201 thing that I'd ever done in medicine. And so then 0:17:23.241 --> 0:17:27.321 really to escape the horrible job that I was in. 0:17:28.880 --> 0:17:31.321 You know, Luke and I we knew we needed to 0:17:31.400 --> 0:17:36.721 change our lifestyle, our drinking patterns, our you know, our 0:17:36.761 --> 0:17:38.840 work life balance, and our friends had started to have 0:17:38.961 --> 0:17:43.121 kids and Luke never wanted kids, and we knew that 0:17:43.400 --> 0:17:45.521 we knew that something had to change, and so we 0:17:45.561 --> 0:17:48.441 started talking about moving out of London and I was like, well, 0:17:48.600 --> 0:17:51.440 you know, for giving up on abroad and he's like, 0:17:51.681 --> 0:17:53.401 well no, and I'm like, why don't we go back 0:17:53.441 --> 0:17:56.640 to Sydney which is where we met. But I was 0:17:56.640 --> 0:17:59.360 desperate when to bring this model of care with me 0:17:59.840 --> 0:18:04.041 because I hated being a GP in that practice, but 0:18:04.160 --> 0:18:07.641 I loved my alcohol whole work. And when I got 0:18:07.721 --> 0:18:11.321 to Australia, I joined this practice called Killed their Road 0:18:11.360 --> 0:18:14.041 and they were super supportive in allowing me to bring 0:18:14.080 --> 0:18:17.281 this model of alcohol detox with me and I was 0:18:17.321 --> 0:18:20.400 no longer a practice owner, you know. I remember on 0:18:20.441 --> 0:18:23.041 the first day, the receptionist came in as I was 0:18:23.041 --> 0:18:25.241 being trained by the practice manager and she goes, oh 0:18:25.481 --> 0:18:27.521 so and so is called off sick. We've got no 0:18:27.561 --> 0:18:30.840 one behind the desk, and I said, oh, well, have 0:18:30.961 --> 0:18:33.041 you got an on call wrote for a reception And 0:18:33.080 --> 0:18:36.720 they just looked at me like, Chris, this is really 0:18:36.761 --> 0:18:39.681 not your problem. And it was like, oh my god, 0:18:39.761 --> 0:18:42.080 this is amazing. I can just be a doctor again, 0:18:42.721 --> 0:18:45.281 like this is that's not my worry. Reception is not 0:18:45.360 --> 0:18:49.041 my worry anymore. And for two years I was just 0:18:49.080 --> 0:18:53.001 a GP and not a manager and I could set 0:18:53.041 --> 0:18:55.521 I set up the Clean State Clinic, and I just 0:18:55.600 --> 0:18:58.200 loved being a doctor again. You know, I'd really burnt 0:18:58.201 --> 0:19:01.680 out in London and I've found a joy of general 0:19:01.721 --> 0:19:06.641 practice and Clean Slate was just my passion project. Then 0:19:06.681 --> 0:19:10.241 I brought it to Darlinghurst eas Sydney Doctors and then 0:19:10.281 --> 0:19:15.840 COVID hit and all of a sudden, you know, there's 0:19:15.880 --> 0:19:17.880 not that many gps that put their hand up and 0:19:17.880 --> 0:19:21.400 say they've got a special interest in alcohol. In fact, 0:19:21.441 --> 0:19:23.200 if you googled it, I was the only name that 0:19:23.321 --> 0:19:26.721 came up. And because of that, I when COVID hit 0:19:26.761 --> 0:19:31.241 and all the detox services had closed, including where I 0:19:31.281 --> 0:19:33.761 were now the Gorman unit that was a COVID ward 0:19:33.801 --> 0:19:37.521 for a while. So you know, people were drinking twenty 0:19:37.521 --> 0:19:40.680 to twenty five percent more through COVID, but try and 0:19:40.681 --> 0:19:43.801 get help was virtually impossible. So I'm getting phone calls 0:19:43.801 --> 0:19:47.840 and emails from Alice Springs. I did a detox over 0:19:47.880 --> 0:19:49.561 the phone to someone on the Gold Coast. I had 0:19:49.561 --> 0:19:53.120 two people from Adelaide. They didn't know each other, and 0:19:53.160 --> 0:19:55.640 I didn't know this before it happened, but they flew 0:19:55.640 --> 0:19:58.480 from Adelaide for a GP appointment with me because they 0:19:58.521 --> 0:20:01.200 were that desperate for help with their drinking. And I'm like, okay, 0:20:01.201 --> 0:20:04.441 well this isn't this isn't working. There was no there's 0:20:04.481 --> 0:20:06.880 bits and obs of Medicare funding, but it just didn't 0:20:06.880 --> 0:20:10.521 feel safe for me to be prescribing die as a 0:20:10.600 --> 0:20:14.801 paraps people I had not met before, but at the 0:20:14.840 --> 0:20:17.401 same time, I was desperate to help them. So that's 0:20:17.441 --> 0:20:21.480 when Chris Rain, who was the founder of Hello Sunday Morning, 0:20:21.481 --> 0:20:24.960 which I'm sure you've heard of, is really not for 0:20:25.041 --> 0:20:28.241 profit charity. And I've met Chris at a conference and 0:20:28.360 --> 0:20:30.880 we've done a bit of work together through Hello Sunday Morning, 0:20:30.921 --> 0:20:33.440 and I loved Hello Sunday Morning. I recommended it to 0:20:33.441 --> 0:20:36.120 all my patients, and we'd be we'd been keeping in 0:20:36.160 --> 0:20:39.120 touch to see how we could work together, and he 0:20:39.241 --> 0:20:41.480 was like, what were we going to do about COVID And 0:20:41.521 --> 0:20:45.441 I'm like, well, I don't know, and he says, why 0:20:45.441 --> 0:20:47.600 don't we just put your model of face to face 0:20:47.721 --> 0:20:52.321 care entirely onto telehealth and then everybody can access it 0:20:52.360 --> 0:20:54.600 no matter where they are and it's completely COVID safe. 0:20:54.640 --> 0:20:57.080 And as soon as he said it, I'm like, yeah, 0:20:57.080 --> 0:21:02.080 that is a brilliant idea and at the same time, serendipitously, 0:21:03.201 --> 0:21:06.601 my best friend Pierre had just left her role as 0:21:06.961 --> 0:21:10.041 a national Partner for Health in Deloitte and along the 0:21:10.041 --> 0:21:14.041 way had developed alcohol use disorder, which I wasn't aware of. 0:21:14.080 --> 0:21:16.920 I mean, she was one of my drinking buddies in London, 0:21:16.961 --> 0:21:20.561 one of my binge drinking buddies, you know, for many years, 0:21:20.561 --> 0:21:23.161 and we've been through a lot together and had known 0:21:23.160 --> 0:21:26.080 each other a very long time. And she's an incredible 0:21:26.880 --> 0:21:29.160 she's now our leader, our CEO. 0:21:29.001 --> 0:21:33.241 And well, I actually just preferred someone who reached out 0:21:33.241 --> 0:21:36.801 to me last week to you guys. And it's funny, 0:21:36.840 --> 0:21:40.041 you know, I haven't had a drink now, it'll be 0:21:40.041 --> 0:21:46.121 coming up to six years and amazing. I wish there 0:21:46.160 --> 0:21:48.441 had have been. I was very lucky in the fact 0:21:48.481 --> 0:21:53.561 that I was able to see an amazing you know 0:21:53.600 --> 0:21:58.321 psychiatrist and he guided me through those initial stages. But 0:21:59.001 --> 0:22:03.561 I just wonder if there had been something like what 0:22:03.761 --> 0:22:07.400 you offer, you know, things, I might have done something sooner. 0:22:07.600 --> 0:22:12.200 But I think what you're offering is wonderful. And as 0:22:12.441 --> 0:22:16.160 I have my own practice in dermatology and asthetics, of 0:22:16.241 --> 0:22:21.640 which if I'm truly honest. My passion is dying and 0:22:21.761 --> 0:22:28.561