Resources for inpatient settings
NICE guidance:
Tobacco: preventing uptake, promoting quitting and treating dependence [NG209] sets out the evidence-based model for stop smoking support.
NG209 was published November 2021 and replaces previous NICE guidance on smoking including Smoking: acute, maternity and mental health services [P48].
Mental Health and Smoking Partnership resources:
Short training guide for mental health professionals
This 2-page training guide for mental health professionals sets out each professional groups’ responsibilities in the stop smoking pathway and examples of appropriate training.
Evidence into practice briefing
This evidence into practice briefing sets out evidence, case studies and lessons for practice on the implementation of smokefree policies in line with NICE PH48 in mental health trusts. It also directs readers to further resources that provide advice and guidance on issues such as prescribing of pharmacotherapy, commissioning in line with smokefree policies and staff training.
Smokefree Q&A: What should you be asking your Trust?
This Q&A document sets out key questions to assess your trust’s progress towards supporting service users to quit smoking in line with NICE guidance PH48.
'Quit smoking' poster for inpatient settings
This poster describes effective ways to help service users quit smoking and should be displayed in staff areas of inpatient settings.
7 tips for helping smokers with mental health problems quit
This Mental Health & Smoking Partnership resource sets out 7 tips for helping smokers with mental health problems quit for good. These tips were developed by Rethink expert by experience, Hannah Moore, based on her personal experience of quitting smoking as a mental health service user.
National Centre for Smoking Cessation and Training (NCSCT) resources:
Tobacco Dependence and Mental Health: A briefing for front-line staff
A concise guide aimed at staff in mental health settings on how to deliver Very Brief Advice, assess tobacco dependence, use cessation aids, and monitor medication interactions when patients with mental illness try to stop smoking.
NHS Standard Treatment Plan (STP) for Inpatient Tobacco Dependence in Mental Health Hospitals
This guide outlines a structured, three-phase approach (admission, inpatient stay, post-discharge) to tobacco dependence treatment for mental health inpatients.
Smoking cessation and smokefree policies: Good practice for mental health services
This resource provides operational guidance for mental health services on implementing smokefree policies, supporting service users to quit during admissions and following discharge, preparing for smokefree settings, and integrating cessation support in service planning.
Resources for community settings
Mental Health and Smoking Partnership resources:
Leaflet for service users: quitting smoking
This short leaflet sets out key information on smoking for people with mental health conditions, including the benefits of being smokefree and the support they should be offered by the community mental health team to help them quit.
Briefing for professionals: Supporting service users to quit
This short brief provides information for mental health professionals on supporting smokers to quit, including addressing some common misconceptions.
Tobacco dependency community-based services for people with severe mental illness: An evaluation of NHS early implementer sites
The National Collaborating Centre for Mental Health (NCCMH) was commissioned by NHS England to capture learning and good practice from early implementer sites of the NHS Long Term Plan commitments to provide community-based tobacco dependency support for those with severe mental illness. This report details recommendations to support other sites to mobilise community-based tobacco dependency services in the future.
Training resources
Mental Health and Smoking Partnership Training Guide:
- This 2-page training guide for mental health professionals sets out each professional groups’ responsibilities in the stop smoking pathway and examples of appropriate training.
National Centre for Smoking Cessation and Training (NCSCT) e-learning:
Additional resources
- NICE Guidance NG209 - Tobacco: preventing uptake, promoting quitting and treating dependence
- Smoking and mental health – A joint report by the Royal College of Physicians and the Royal College of Psychiatrists
- The prescribing of varenicline and vaping (electronic cigarettes) to patients with severe mental illness - A position statement from the Royal College of Psychiatrists
- The ASH smoking and mental health factsheet
- Mental health, smoking and poverty in the UK – This report, by Dr Tessa Langley of the University of Nottingham, quantifies the extent to which smoking exacerbates poverty in adults with mental health conditions in the UK
- ASH smoking and mental health survey 2016 – This report examines the results of surveys which explored the attitudes of people with mental health conditions to smoking and the views of staff working with people with mental health conditions
- Respiratory Futures Tobacco Dependency Project- A two-part series of webinars based on the Tobacco Dependency Roadmap and on the most frequent issues faced by healthcare professionals when setting-up and running a Tobacco Dependence Treatment Service.