Collaboration & smoking cessation services: community pharmacy, Trusts & the Local Authority
On 18th July 2023, ASH and NHS Midlands and Lancashire Commissioning Support Unit (MLCSU) hosted the first in our 2-part series of network events on solutions to improve the pathway for tobacco dependency treatment services.
Community pharmacies have been commissioned by NHS England to provide ongoing smoking cessation support to patients who have made a quit attempt in hospital (acute and mental health), as part of the new NHS Long Term Plan tobacco dependency treatment services.
The event was chaired by Hazel Cheeseman, and showcased learning from case studies. We heard from teams at The Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust, Wolverhampton City Local Pharmaceutical Committee, NHS Greater Manchester ICS, and Oldham Council.
Speakers and slides
Case studies
The Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust
Olivia Bush, NHS Strategic Lead, ASH, interviewed:
Ellina Bawa, Tobacco Dependency Lead, The Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust
NHS Greater Manchester, Royal Oldham Hospital
Olivia Bush, NHS Strategic Lead, ASH, interviewed:
Alison Scowcroft, Community Pharmacy Clinical Lead, NHS Greater Manchester Integrated Care
Andrea Entwistle, Senior Business & Commissioning Manager, Public Health Oldham Council
Sarah Wray, Tobacco Dependency Advisor Team Leader, Royal Oldham Hospital
Download slides
Watch full video here
Time stamps:
Keynote speaker
Rob Hebdon, National Pharmacy Integration Lead, NHS England
Time stamp: 10:00
Case Studies
The Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust
Olivia Bush, NHS Strategic Lead, ASH interviewed: Ellina Bawa, Tobacco Dependency Lead, The Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust
Time stamp: 18:30
NHS Greater Manchester, Oldham
Olivia Bush, NHS Strategic Lead, ASH interviewed: Alison Scowcroft, Community Pharmacy Clinical Lead, NHS Greater Manchester Integrated Care, Andrea Entwistle, Senior Business & Commissioning Manager, Public Health Oldham Council and Sarah Wray, Tobacco Dependency Advisor Team Leader, Royal Oldham Hospital
Time stamp: 28:50
Resource library
Here you’ll find a summary of learning points, action items, top tips, and list of links to provide background information and support you in implementing an effective service.
Learning and top tips from this event included:
- What participating community pharmacies offer, and how Trusts can benefit
- Benefits include a national standardised service (in service provision and training requirements), increasing capacity in the community for continuing smoking cessation support and increasing patient choice.
- How Trust and community pharmacy teams are working together to create seamless smoking cessation support for patients on discharge from hospital.
- Engagement of pharmacies, before referring patients on, is key to success. Meeting face to face has been found to be most effective in delivering an effective pathway referral
- Ongoing Trust support for pharmacies in setting up the service is necessary.
- Monitoring the patient journey is important, especially early in implementation, to ensure a quality patient experience and outcome.
- Partnerships with stakeholders are vital to success.
- It is vital for Trusts to work in partnership with the Local Pharmaceutical Committee.
- Starting off with organising an engagement event for pharmacies, in collaboration with the LPCs, has been successful in many areas.
- Many participants are working in areas where there is mix of local authority and NHS-funded smoking cessation services; collaboration and partnership working between the NHS and Local Authority is important to ensure robust, joined-up continuing care for patients.
- Commissioners can support a joined-up service for patients by mandating collaboration between different providers in contractual agreements.
- Good IT systems help support partnership working and communication. Delegates have used both PharmOutcomes and Quitmanager to manage referrals.
- It is vital for Trusts to work in partnership with the Local Pharmaceutical Committee.
- Start small when launching the service, so that there’s capacity to solve any problems quickly, and build trust in the service before it is spread more widely.
ASH resources
- To join the Smokefree NHS Network here and browse the network pages.
- NHS tobacco dependency treatment hub
- Browse the NHS tobacco dependence treatment hub for ASH resources to support implementation of tobacco dependence treatment in acute, mental health and maternity settings.
- Partner resource map
- To help you make the most of the support available, we have developed a map to help you navigate the support for tobacco dependency treatment services ASH and our partners are providing.
MLCSU resources
- MLCSU: National Implementation of NHS Smoking Cessation Service
- MLCSU: Webinars and additional resources
- MLCSU Contact Form
- If you’d like to receive support from the MLCSU team or join their events to support implementation, then please complete this form.
NHS England resources
- NHS community pharmacy smoking cessation service
- Community pharmacy advanced service specification: NHS Smoking Cessation Service (SCS)
Guidance on setting up good partnerships