Stopping smoking

Giving up smoking is one of the single most beneficial things you can do for your immediate and long-term health. Nicotine is a powerfully addictive drug, on a par with heroin or cocaine, according to a report by the Royal College of Physicians.[1]

It is no surprise, therefore, that it often takes smokers five or six attempts to quit. Nicotine replacement therapy (NRT) in the form of patches, tablets, nasal sprays or gum is an effective and cost-effective smoking cessation treatment.

Help and support to give up smoking is freely available through the local NHS Stop Smoking Services. It includes access to stop smoking groups, trained advisers for one-to-one support and NRT on prescription.

Other good sources of help and support are No Smoking Day and QUIT.

The National Heart Forum has endorsed evidence-based guidelines for health professionals on smoking cessation prepared by the Department of Health and the former Health Development Agency. The updated guidelines are published in Thorax (2000; 55), and are available on the ASH website.

NICE guidance on smoking cessation

The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) on 31 March 2006 issued its first national public health guidance on what works to help people stop smoking and to become more physically active. The smoking cessation guidance recommends that a brief intervention, for example, a quick chat or giving advice when the chance arises, can make a real difference in helping people stop smoking.

The guidance also recommends that for the first time, all health professionals, including GPs seeing patients at a consultation, nurses in primary and community care, hospital clinicians, pharmacists and dentists, should advise everyone who smokes to stop and refer them to an intensive support service (for example, NHS Stop Smoking Services).

This means that everyone who smokes, not just those with a smoking-related illness, should receive advice about quitting from the health professionals they visit. There may be a few exceptions where an individual's personal circumstances means it isn't appropriate for health professionals to give stop smoking advice.

The NICE guidance says health professionals giving brief stop smoking advice is also very cost-effective, which means it provides good value for money for the NHS.

Visit National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence

Reference

Nicotine addiction in Britain (2001), a report published by the Royal College of Physicians, calls for nicotine addiction to be treated as a major medical and social problem. Available from the RCP Publications Unit on 020 7935 1174 extension 358.
The report is available online.