The benefits of a pharmacy led enhanced smoking cessation service in deprived areas of Glasgow

Authors:
Anne Scoular, Jane Doogan and Katrina Henderson

Presenter:
Katrina Henderson
Starting Fresh Enhanced Service Support Pharmacist/ Public Health Pharmacy Facilitator, NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde, UK

Abstract
Background: Smoking is Scotland’s biggest single driver of preventable disease and health inequalities. An enhanced pharmacy-led smoking cessation service, ‘Starting Fresh Enhanced Service’ (SFES) has been developed within Glasgow’s ‘Keep Well’ anticipatory care programme. The new service enhances the pre-existing Pharmacy Smokefree Service (PSfS) by providing intensified motivational interviewing support and the offer of combination NRT

Methods: All eligible patients who had previously engaged in the pre-existing PSfS between 2003 and 2008 in East, North and South-West CHCPs were invited to participate in SFES. The effectiveness of SFES compared with PSfS on smoking cessation outcomes at week four were then analysed.

Results: 7,533 PSfS patients were compared with 194 SFES participants; the two groups had similarly high levels of nicotine dependence. Over 75% patients in both groups lived in the most deprived SIMD Quintile. At four weeks, the proportion of SFES patients who had discontinued smoking was over twice that of the PSfS (34.0% vs 13.9%). Patients cited availability of combination therapy, enhanced personal support and availability of carbon monoxide monitoring as mediators of the SFES’ successful outcomes.

Conclusions: SFES delivers substantially improved smoking
cessation outcomes and is highly acceptable to clients living in
socially deprived areas.

Source of funding: NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde

Declaration of interest: none