Updated smoking cessation service spec and PGDs published

Draft documents for the expanded Smoking Cessation Service (SCS) have been published, including updates to the service specification and new Patient Group Directions (PGDs) for varenicline and cytisinicline (Cytisine).

This follows an agreement between the government and Community Pharmacy England (CPE) to expand the SCS to allow trained staff to produce the service alongside pharmacists and pharmacy technicians.

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It was also agreed that PGDs would be introduced to enable the provision of varenicline and cytisinicline – prescription medicines that reduce nicotine cravings – by both pharmacists and pharmacy technicians.

These draft documents have been published to provide advance notice of the changes to the service for pharmacy owners and their teams, and additionally to support IT system suppliers in developing the necessary changes to their systems. They can be downloaded from the NHS Business Services Authority (NHSBSA) website.

The provisional start date for the expanded service has not yet been agreed, but it will be announced by NHS England ‘in due course’.

Prior to this start date, the final versions of the service specification and PGDs will be published on the NHS England website. These updated documents must be used by all pharmacy owners providing the service – not the draft documents.

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For now, the service has not changed, and pharmacy owners and their teams must continue to provide the service in line with the current documentation.

The aim of the SCS is to reduce the risk of long term health conditions and death from smoking, and to reduce health inequalities associated with higher rates of smoking.

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The SCS was first added to the NHS Community Pharmacy Contractual Framework (CPCF) 2021/22. It was designed to enable NHS trusts to refer patients to a community pharmacy to continue their smoking cessation treatment.

This week, The Pharmacist also reported that more than half a million people across England, Scotland and Wales now use nicotine pouches, according to new research led by University College London (UCL).