The original VBA model focussed on referral to local Stop Smoking Services. Some areas no longer offer a Stop Smoking Service to all people who smoke and there is now a wider set of options for stop smoking support. The updated VBA+ model reflects the fact that patients interested in stopping smoking should be referred to the best locally available support.
In some areas, this will remain the local Stop Smoking Service. In others this will include trained colleagues in pharmacy, primary care, mental health, maternity and acute care settings.
Importantly, the principles and merits of VBA+ remain the same: promote quit attempts and link people to evidence-based stop smoking support.
As with any clinical skill, it is important to ensure this training is refreshed periodically. All those who have previously completed the NCSCT VBA modules can now retake the online VBA+ courses and receive a new certificate of competence as a refresher.
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 worked with colleagues in the Ambulance Service to produce this guidance for Ambulance Clinicians on delivering Very Brief Advice on Smoking (VBA+).
Date of last review: December 2024
Written in partnership with Public Health England (now the Office for Health Improvement and Disparities) and MD Diagnostics, this briefing provides guidance on delivering VBA+ in dental settings. The briefing covers:
Very Brief Advice for Pulmonary Rehabilitation (VBA-PR)
This page is part of an NIHR fellowship awarded to Dr Claire Nolan, Senior Lecturer in Physiotherapy and NIHR Advanced Fellow at Brunel University London.?This research is investigating the feasibility of training health and social care professionals in Very Brief Advice for Pulmonary Rehabilitation (VBA-PR) via an online training module constructed by the NCSCT; this training module is currently in the pilot phase.
This patient information film has been developed as part of this project to inform patients and carers of what Pulmonary Rehabilitation involves, and of the benefits it can convey.
Pulmonary Rehabilitation: the patient experience