Stop Smoking Advanced Service
The NHS Community Pharmacy Smoking Cessation Service was launched on 10th March 2022 as an Advanced Service. NHS England (NHSE) has commissioned this service as ‘a branch of the wider aim of supporting hospital patients to continue their stop smoking efforts after discharge, which is expected to increase one-year quit rates by 11% and, when implemented, is expected to save the NHS £85 million in healthcare resource use within one year (Mullen, 2010; Royal College of Physicians, 2018).’
Key Information
All of the key information about this service including the service specification can be found on the PSNC website.
PSNC has particularly highlighted that ‘NHS trusts currently have their focus on recovery following COVID-19 and consequently they will not all immediately start to make referrals to the service; NHSE expects most to be making referrals within two years from the commencement date.’ Contractors should bear this statement in mind when making decisions about when to sign up to provide the service.
It’s important to note that at the moment, the service can only be delivered by a pharmacist due to the VAT rules that exist when other members of the pharmacy team provide a service.
Useful Resources
- VirtualOutcomes (free for all West Yorkshire pharmacy teams): Pharmacy Team Training
- CPPE also has a suite of resources in relation to smoking cessation.
Last Updated: 10th May 2022
