• Matthew Evison, Cheryl Pearse, Freya Howle, Monique Baugh, Helen Huddart, Eileen Ashton, Michael Rutherford, Carol Kearney, Lyn Elsey, Darren Staniforth, Kathryn Hoyle, Murugesan Raja, Julie Jerram, David Regan, Richard Booton, John Britton, Claire O'Rourke, David Shackley, Liz Benbow, Andrea Crossfield, Jayne Pilkington, Mandy Bailey, and Richard Preece.
• Wythenshawe Hospital, Manchester, UK m.evison@nhs.net.
• Clin Med (Lond). 2020 Mar 1; 20 (2): 196202196-202.

IntroductionProviding comprehensive tobacco addiction treatment to smokers admitted to acute care settings represents an opportunity to realise major health resource savings and population health improvements.MethodsThe CURE project is a hospital-wide tobacco addiction treatment service piloted in Wythenshawe Hospital, Manchester, UK. The core components of the project are electronic screening of all patients to identify smokers; the provision of brief advice and pharmacotherapy by frontline staff; opt-out referral of smokers to a specialist team for inpatient behavioural interventions; and continued support after discharge.ResultsFrom 01 October 2018 to 31 March 2019, 92% (13,515/14,690) of adult admissions were screened for smoking status, identifying 2,393 current smokers. Of these, 96% were given brief advice to quit by the admitting team. Through the automated 'opt-out' referral process, 61% patients completed inpatient behavioural interventions with a specialist cessation practitioner (69% within the first 48 hours of admission). Overall, 66% of smokers were prescribed pharmacotherapy. Over one in five of all smokers admitted during this pilot reported that they were abstinent from smoking 12 weeks after discharge (22%) at a cost £183 per quit.DiscussionNational implementation of this cost-effective programme would be likely to generate substantial benefits to public health.© Royal College of Physicians 2020. All rights reserved.

9 keywords...

hide…