CRUK’s Annual Survey
CRUK and ASH have released their annual survey of local government public health teams and finds strong local government support for increased NHS investment for new inpatient treatment for smokers
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by Dave Cross
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ASH says: “Not all smokers had access to stop smoking services in England in 2022 but most local authorities remained committed to supporting smokers to quit, especially smokers in high prevalence groups.
“The impact of the roll-out of NHS tobacco dependence treatment services is yet to be felt in most areas but these services are likely to have a significant impact on community stop smoking services. They present an opportunity to create more comprehensive and integrated support for smokers.
“The proportion of local authorities where tobacco control is perceived to be a high priority increased from 18% in 2021 to 33% in 2022.”
Key findings from the survey:
- One third of surveyed local authorities (33%) did not commission a universal specialist stop smoking service in 2022. Two did not commission any local support. Over half (54%) commissioned stop smoking support from pharmacists.
- The use of face-to-face advice had returned to pre-pandemic levels in 2022 (95% of surveyed local authorities now use this method) but many services also used remote methods such as telephone, text messaging and video conferencing.
- A majority of surveyed local authorities (52%) offered vapes or e-cigarettes to users of stop smoking services. They were provided directly or via vouchers or other arrangements with vape shops.
- Most surveyed local authorities (86%) were involved in the planning and roll-out of NHS tobacco dependence treatment services, though some local authorities were much more engaged than others. In some areas, local authorities were leading the implementation process.
- The impact of the NHS tobacco dependence treatment services on local authority stop smoking services is likely to be complex and variable across the country. Some local authorities reported an increase in demand, others a decrease. In most areas, impacts were yet to be felt.
- Many survey respondents were optimistic about the opportunity of the roll-out of NHS tobacco dependence treatment services to reach more smokers and to create a more integrated service across the NHS and community. However, some expressed concern that new NHS services could place a burden on community services that local authorities would struggle to meet.
- In the areas where lung health checks have been implemented, 73% of local authorities reported an increase in demand for community stop smoking services. None reported a decrease in demand.
- The role of Integrated Care Systems in advancing tobacco control work was well-developed in some areas but embryonic in others.
- Almost all surveyed local authorities remained committed to tackling inequalities and some had challenging performance targets for reaching high prevalence groups or communities. The leading target groups were pregnant women, socio-economically disadvantaged areas, and people with mental health conditions.
- Three fifths of surveyed local authorities (59%) had a local tobacco alliance and 79% collaborated with other local authorities in their tobacco control or stop smoking work. Almost all were engaged in some form of wider tobacco control work.
- Tobacco control was perceived to be a high priority in a third of surveyed local authorities (33%), up from 18% in 2021. Alongside directors of public health, members for health and wellbeing remained important champions for tobacco control in local authorities.
The third point, that “a majority” of local authorities worked with vape shops to provide free starter kits tends to make a mockery of ASH Scotland’s recent complaint to the Advertising Standards Authority about VPZ running quit clinics.
As part of the release of the findings, ASH has repeated its call for the Government to “publish a comprehensive Tobacco Control Plan with ambitious proposals to further reduce smoking prevalence”.
The Tobacco Control Plan was due for publication over a year ago.
Photo Credit:
Image by Colin Behrens from Pixabay
Dave Cross
Journalist at POTVDave is a freelance writer; with articles on music, motorbikes, football, pop-science, vaping and tobacco harm reduction in Sounds, Melody Maker, UBG, AWoL, Bike, When Saturday Comes, Vape News Magazine, and syndicated across the Johnston Press group. He was published in an anthology of “Greatest Football Writing”, but still believes this was a mistake. Dave contributes sketches to comedy shows and used to co-host a radio sketch show. He’s worked with numerous vape companies to develop content for their websites.
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