The QUIT Team is here to support inpatients and pregnant women to start a stop smoking attempt in hospital and throughout their pregnancy. They will be referred to a community pharmacy to continue their stop smoking journey once they are discharged from hospital or after they have their baby.
About the service
The Tobacco Dependency Treatment Service identify people on admission who are smokers, provide a pre-quit assessment and start treatment. With consent, patients will be offered referral for on-going support and Nicotine Replacement Therapy to remain smoke free following discharge.
Pregnant women and their family will be supported to have smoke free pregnancies and following the birth of their baby. On-going referrals are made using an electronic system following or in preparation for discharge from hospital. The patient will choose the community pharmacy to which they wish to be referred to.
Smoking is seen as a long-term, relapsing condition which can and should be treated by the NHS. And by doing so, dramatically improve a patient’s health and wellbeing, boost their chances of recovery from treatment, and reduce hospital admissions and re-admissions.
The NHS recognises that;
• Smoking is an addiction that often starts in childhood – not a lifestyle choice
• Tobacco addiction/dependency is a chronic, relapsing medical condition that prematurely kills at least half of all long term smokers
• There are effective treatments for tobacco dependency which can prevent illness and save lives
• The NHS has a responsibility to treat smoking
Services we offer
Acute inpatients – are asked if they smoke on admission, and ward staff offer Very Brief Advice (VBA) and offer of Nicotine Replacement Therapy (NRT) to manage withdrawal symptoms. Patients who smoke are then referred (on an opt-out basis) to an onsite tobacco treatment advisor (the QUIT team) to agree a treatment plan for their duration in hospital and on discharge, if a full quit attempt is made.
Maternity – delivered within maternity services, where every pregnant woman is CO tested at booking-in appointment and referred to a specialist trained advisor if they’re identified as a smoker. Regular appointments and dedicated support is given to sustain a quit attempt throughout the pregnancy, for both expectant mothers and partners who smoke.
Contacting the service
The QUIT team is led by Barbara Lynam, Tobacco Dependency Treatment Service Lead.
