British Association for Stop Smoking Practitioners (BASSP) Fringe Meeting
Facilitated by Gillian Bruce (Chair of BASSP) and Christine Owens, Director of Tobacco Control,The Roy Castle Lung Cancer Foundation, Liverpool, UK

Come and hear about BASSP, and tell us what you want from the association.
All welcome – members and potential members!

The British Association for Stop Smoking Practitioners (BASSP) is a membership organisation, under the umbrella of the British Thoracic Society. Kevin Barron MP is our Patron. We are an organisation run by practitioners for practitioners, with the aim of:

• Raising the profile of the profession nationally
• Improving communication between practitioners themselves and other relevant organisations
• Increasing support for practitioners
• Providing representation at national, and local, levels to highlight issues pertinent to practitioners
• Sharing and encourage evidence-based best practice

Membership of BASSP has been offered since May 2007, and the organisation has gone from strength to strength. Our patron, Kevin Barron MP hosted the formal launch of the organisation at the House of Commons on 2nd July 2007. To be eligible to join BASSP, individuals should have an active professional interest in smoking cessation, and be committed to reducing the prevalence of smoking in the UK. Membership is not open to those employed in, or supported by, the tobacco industry, or to those gain financially from the sale of tobacco or tobacco-related products. Our strength is our membership - go to our website (www.brit-thoracic.org.uk/bassp) to join! Here you will also see that our membership is being consulted on our statement on the minimum standards for training for practitioners. Join in the debate now.

In September last year we held our first national conference in Manchester. The success of this conference highlighted how successful an event of this kind is to enable practitioners to share information and best practice. Our 2008 conference will be held on Thursday 2nd October at the University of Manchester. The conference will have a focus on mental health and collecting and analysing data. The programme is available on our website. Here you can book online and importantly you can also see details of how to contribute to the event and share your practice with colleagues.

BASSP is an exciting organisation to be associated with. There is huge potential for us to help to create a cohesive national voice for all stop smoking practitioners – come to our fringe meeting and hear more about us and, more importantly, tell us what you want from a membership organisation.