Sheffield gets its very own stop smoking shop
A brand new city centre stop smoking drop-in shop, due to open in Sheffield in the autumn this year is just one of a series of new developments planned for the service.
These changes are part of a larger scheme which sees NHS services in Sheffield and Barnsley joining together, after NHS Sheffield appointed Barnsley NHS’ Care Services Direct to manage the Sheffield NHS Stop Smoking Service, from 1st July 2010.
In order to increase the number of smokers that the Sheffield NHS Stop Smoking Service help to quit, NHS Sheffield invited organisations to bid to deliver the service, and appointed Care Services Direct after being impressed by their innovative thinking.
The changes to services will see a new city centre stop smoking shop, the likes of which is already successfully operated in Barnsley. The Sheffield shop, due to open later in the year, will be open six days plus at least one late night each week and offer a no-appointment-necessary drop-in service.
Further changes also include a new nicotine replacement therapy scheme; so that clients attending for stop smoking support in community settings have the option of going straight to their pharmacy for stop smoking medicines, which include patches and gum.
They will also explore opportunities to develop telephone, text and internet based stop smoking support. Support is currently only offered face to face. Also, the use of incentives, such as gym and slimming world vouchers; and having a mobile unit so that the service can go where it is most needed are being considered.
Jeremy Wight, Director of Public Health at NHS Sheffield said: “We were delighted to be able to offer Care Services Direct the contract to deliver the Sheffield NHS Stop Smoking Service. Not only did they put in a fantastic bid, it’s also great for the people of South Yorkshire to see NHS organisations from Barnsley and Sheffield working together in this innovative way.
“The existing Stop Smoking Service is very successful and provides a great service to smokers in the city who use it, however, we wanted to develop the service further to increase the number of people using it, and we recognised a number of changes to make the service more flexible, could help ensure that the service meets the modern day needs of people in the city. It’s vital that we do everything we can to help smokers stop, because people who smoke regularly die an average of ten years earlier than those who don’t.”
Sean Rayner, Chief Operating Officer for Care Services Direct said: “We are really pleased to win the stop smoking contract and look forward to working with NHS Sheffield to improve the health of local people, offering services to those that need support to stop smoking.”
The service will continue to support and work in partnership with General Practices, Pharmacies and Dental Practices who also deliver high quality support to help smokers to quit. NHS
Sheffield have set Care Services Direct the challenge of supporting 3000 people to successfully quit smoking each year*. Furthermore, the service will continue to work alongside the additional stop smoking support in the city, including Midwifery led support for pregnant women to quit, the Workplace Advisor who attends local businesses to help staff to quit, and support in areas of the city where smoking prevalence is highest.
NHS Sheffield is one of the first primary care trust (PCT) in Yorkshire and the Humber to put the delivery of their stop smoking service to tender. It follows a model employed by a number of other PCTs elsewhere in the country, including in the North-West and the West Midlands. All staff who are currently employed by the Sheffield NHS Stop Smoking Service will be able to continue working for the service under the new management.
