Supporting community patients
Very Brief Advice (3 A's) – Making Every Contact Count
All health professionals have a duty of care to protect health and promote healthy behaviour. Therefore, each contact with a Service user should be seen as a unique opportunity to provide very brief advice:
Ask - their smoking status.
Advise - the organisation is smokefree, the benefits to their treatment and recovery if abstaining, cutting down or quitting smoking and the wealth of support available.
Act – provide information and arrange access / referral for further support if required.
For patients wishing to cut down or quit smoking, provide details of support options.
Support options for service users
1. A Level 2 trained member of staff in your team
2. The local stop smoking service (see resources)
3. If a mental health patient – a mental health community smokefree group (see resources
4. Provide information about other support available by apps, texts and e-mail (see resources)
Choose the best support for you, your local stop smoking service:
- Halton: Health Improvement Team 0300 029 0029
- Knowsley: Stop Smoking Service 0800 3 247 111
- Sefton: Smokefree Sefton 0300 100 1000
- St Helens: Smokefree St Helens 01744 586 247
- Warrington: LiveWire 0300 003 0818
- Wigan: Healthy Routes 01942 489 012
- National Stop Smoking Services: 0300 123 1044
Your GP or there may be a scheme in your local pharmacy other support available by app, text or e-mail (see resources).