NCSCT briefings

NCSCT briefings We have produced a series of practical briefings for healthcare professionals, who help people to stop smoking, that cover many of the key issues that arise when giving advice to smokers. To find out more about the briefings, and to read them online free of charge, click on the links below.
Vaping: a guide for health and social care professionals New and fully updated edition! Healthcare professionals have an important role to play in ensuring that people who smoke have accurate information about vaping founded upon evidence. But we al ... [More]
Supporting clients who want to stop vaping Providing guidance to clients who ask about stopping vaping When supporting clients who want to stop vaping, our priority should always be to ensure that clients who stop vaping do not return to ... [More]
Why do we not have Stop Vaping Services? Nicotine vape use is often likened to smoking and because of this we often hear the question: why we do not have Stop Vaping Services? This short briefing answers the question taking into considera ... [More]
Spontaneous quitters and the NHS Long Term Plan: clarification of the 48-hour rule This briefing considers how to classify an individual who has started a treatment programme in hospital and is referred to a community stop smoking service upon discharge, and whether their data can b ... [More]
Combination NRT Fully updated NCSCT briefing on combination NRT including the latest research evidence and clinical good practice. The original NCSCT briefing on combination NRT was written in 2012 because, desp ... [More]
Service policy guidance on cannabis use This briefing was written as a complement to the NCSCT Smoking cessation and cannabis use: A guide for stop smoking practitioners. The briefing offers guidance and practical considerations for stop ... [More]
Smoking cessation and cannabis use This briefing has been written by clinical and academic experts and addresses how to help clients stop or manage their cannabis use so that they can minimise the impact it has upon their attempt to qu ... [More]
Very brief advice on smoking for Ambulance Clinicians Ambulance Clinicians already routinely ask about smoking status as part of taking a history, but they also have an opportunity to discuss stopping smoking with non-emergency 999 patients. We've wor ... [More]
Information for specialist stop-smoking services that are considering providing e-cigarette starter packs: recommendations from the Trial of Ecigarettes (TEC) Until recently, research into the effectiveness of e-cigarettes within local stop smoking services was lacking. This briefing provides a summary of the findings from the Trial of E-Cigarettes (TEC) ... [More]
Stop smoking services: increased chances of quitting Using stop smoking services is three times as effective as making an unassisted quit attempt Variable short-term quit rates amongst stop smoking services, plus evidence from two studies, have led ... [More]
Stopping Smoking in Pregnancy: A briefing for maternity care providers The fourth edition of this briefing gives expert, concise guidance on how to deliver Very Brief Advice (VBA) to pregnant women who smoke and how to carry out routine carbon monoxide (CO) monitoring ... [More]
12 week smoking status guidance Some stop smoking service providers are commissioned to offer extended behavioural support beyond four weeks post-quit date, usually to 12 weeks. There is limited data on the additional benefit of ext ... [More]
Smoking Cessation Intervention for People with Severe Mental Ill Health: SCIMITAR+ Trial This summary plus infographic describes the SCIMITAR+ trial led by the University of York. The study demonstrated that when people with severe mental ill health (SMI) are provided with a bespoke smoki ... [More]
Spontaneous quitters: clarification of the 48-hour rule This new guidance enables continuity of care for those who have been tobacco-abstinent for up to 14 days prior to presenting at their local stop smoking service, enabling a seamless approach to treatm ... [More]
Very brief advice on smoking for dental patients Written in partnership with Public Health England and MD Diagnostics this briefing provides guidance on delivering very brief advice on smoking in dental settings. The briefing covers: * establishing ... [More]
Working with vape shops Vape shops can be a source of information about new products, regulation, costs and technical support. This guide covers: • How can vape shops support stop smoking services? • How can stop s ... [More]
Smoking cessation and smokefree policies - Good practice for mental health services This briefing provides advice on supporting patients admitted to smokefree premises and maximising the chances of cessation, managing temporary abstinence and implementing and maintaining smokefree po ... [More]
Integrated health behaviour services briefing This briefing takes a hard look at the evidence on whether integrated health behaviour (lifestyle) services are effective and cost-effective, and makes recommendations about how the commissioning of s ... [More]
Varenicline SPC update This briefing reports on the findings of the large and comprehensive EAGLES study into the safety and efficacy of varenicline, and on the changes to the summary of product characteristics. ... [More]
Prevention v Cessation: effectiveness and cost-effectiveness Prevention v cessation briefing With public health budgets being cut, some local authorities are favouring smoking prevention activities over stop smoking services. This briefing looks at the evi ... [More]
Four week quit rate briefing This briefing answers the question we are often asked about whether assessing abstinence at 12 weeks gives us a better idea of the number of clients of Stop Smoking Services who will become permanen ... [More]
Smoking Cessation and Mental Health: A briefing for front-line staff For people with mental illness who smoke, stopping smoking will have the greatest impact on their health. This briefing is aimed at those who work in a mental health setting and gives expert, con ... [More]
Quick wins: the short-term benefits of stopping smoking Stopping smoking is possibly the single most important step a person can take to improve their well-being, whatever their age. Despite the benefits of smoking cessation being self-evident, howeve ... [More]
The 'Not-a-Puff' rule The ‘Not-a-Puff’ rule is associated with better outcomes than gradual cessation, in both supported and unsupported quit attempts. The ‘Not-a-Puff’ rule involves assisting smokers to stop ... [More]
Smoking and bone health Poor bone health has a devastating impact in the UK, both in terms of disease morbidity and mortality as well as financial costs. Smoking has long been acknowledged to be a risk factor for poor ... [More]
Cost-effectiveness of pharmacotherapy for smoking cessation This briefing addresses the cost-effectiveness of smoking cessation interventions. Analysis shows that when smoking cessation interventions are effective they are invariably also cost-effective; ... [More]
Smoking reduction Smoking reduction, cutting down the cigarettes smoked per day, is common in the UK. However, the amount that smokers cut down by is relatively small and there is little evidence to suggest that r ... [More]
Cardiovascular disease and varenicline (Champix) In light of trials reporting on the incidence of cardiovascular serious adverse events among those using varenicline and a call to evaluate the association of cardiovascular serious adverse events w ... [More]
Smoking cessation interventions involving significant others It is well established that the social environment influences smoking initiation and maintenance, as well as cessation. Observational studies investigating the natural progression towards smoking ... [More]
Varenicline: effectiveness and safety Despite the evidence on safety and efficacy, getting some local medicines management and prescribers to accept varenicline as an equal ‘first line’ treatment option was in some cases difficult. ... [More]
Managing post-cessation weight gain Weight gain is a common consequence of stopping smoking but many experts in smoking cessation play this down and often the advice given to clients about possible weight gain and weight management st ... [More]
Waterpipe tobacco smoking This briefing addresses the misheld belief that waterpipe smoking is a low risk activity. Waterpipe tobacco smoking is increasing and the UK has reported a 210% rise in the number of waterpipe c ... [More]
Stop Smoking Services and Health Inequalities This briefing looks at the extent to which stop smoking services are reaching the most disadvantaged smokers. It is known that smoking is the single biggest preventable cause of heath inequaliti ... [More]
Changes to the local stop smoking services quarterly data return for 2014 –15 This briefing details a small number of changes that are being made to the collection of outcome data from local stop smoking services. Since 1999 treatment and outcome data from local stop smoki ... [More]


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